Materia Duel
by Ocena Strex
Summary: After a massive explosion during a duel between Yami and Seto, they and their friends and family are pulled through a rift into another world. There they are separated and found by Cloud and his friends. With the help of these people they must find each other again and find a way back home. But this won't be so easy when old enemies decide to team up together.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Welcome to my new story!

This fic is a crossover between Yu-Gi-Oh! And Final Fantasy VII. It probably won't have many chapters and the plot won't be very innovative, but it'll be a test for me to see whether I can step back from all the dramatic plots I come up with and write something more light hearted. So far, it's quite tricky to write and I haven't even finished chapter 2 yet, so I hope I can get into this story soon and update regularly.

Any suggestions for jokes or funny situations are welcome. I can't promise I can use them, but rest assured that I will consider all of them.

As for the worlds, it's a bit of a mix to fit the story. Serenity can see and they'll be using Duel Disks, which would mean it's set around the time of Battle City. I won't be using the God cards though. Cloud and his buddies have defeated Sephiroth, but I'm not going to use Geostigma. Shinra is still in charge under Rufus and Midgar is like the Midgar from the original game.

As for the characters, like usual I'll try to keep them in character, but they might at times react differently from what you might expect in order to create funny situations. Tell me if you feel I'm going overboard.

I think that's about it. I hope you'll all enjoy this story and leave a review to share your thoughts. Happy reading!

0o0o0

Yami and Seto stood across from one another, engaged in a heated duel. So far they had been going neck on neck. When one duellist seemed to gain the advantage, the other would swiftly come back with a well thought out combo. Neither duellist refused to give in, as was usual for these two. Joey, Tristan, Tea and Serenity were cheering for Yami like usual, while Mokuba did the same for his big brother.

"Well Yugi, it seems we've gotten ourselves in a familiar situation now, haven't we?" Seto smirked, his Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon standing in front of him.

"Yes Kaiba, and I believe that last time you successfully summoned your Ultimate Dragon I would have defeated it if it wasn't for you threatening to kill yourself." Yami replied, not in the least fazed by the sight of Seto's dragon, even if he had no monsters or face down cards on the field himself.

"But will you manage to work your way out of this this time now that you can't cheat with those little fur balls?"

"Never underestimate the power of Kuriboh, Kaiba. And I will always find a way as long as I believe in the heart of the cards I cannot lose."

"You tell him Yugi!" Tea cheered.

"Yeah, show moneybags what a real duellist is all about!" Joey added.

"Shut up Wheeler!" Kaiba sneered at Joey. "If Yugi is as good a duellist as he claims to be then he won't need a third-rate duellist to tell him what to do." He turned back to Yami. "Besides, I'm interested to see whether you can make good on that threat Yugi."

"I intend to Kaiba." Yami smirked as he looked up from his cards. "You'd better pay attention since my next move will end this duel."

Seto almost invisibly tensed up, but Yami noticed it and continued to smirk in satisfaction as he played his combo. He managed to summon Kuribohand with a clever combo sacrificed it to summon his Dark Magician, and proceeded to power it with magic cards before ordering it to attack. A series of counterattacks caused by clever use of trap and magic cards followed. Each player continuously managed to negate the other's counter. It seemed as if there would never be an end to the called attack, until it finally arrived. Dark Magician's Dark Magic Attack and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's Neutron Blast clashed, releasing a powerful amount of energy. The resulting shockwave even caused Seto to hold up his arms to protect his face while bracing himself. Suddenly, Yami and Seto's duel disks started to sprout sparks, startling both duellists.

"Kaiba! What's going on?!" Yami called over the din of the still on-going attack.

"The power of the attack must be causing an overload in the duel disk system." Seto replied, though his voice was laced with unbelief.

"Kaiba, we've been duelling with Egyptian God cards and Legendary Dragon cards without any problem and you're telling me two regular duel monsters are causing an overload?" Yami growled back.

Before Seto could reply however a bolt of lightning shot from both duel disks and collided with the centre of their monsters' attacks, causing a massive explosion. Yami and Seto were pushed back and couldn't keep themselves on their feet. Both duel monsters disappeared, but a rift appeared where their attack had connected. Yugi's friends and Mokuba ran up to them to see if they were all right, but before they could reach them the rift started to pull them in, along with both startled duellists. They screamed in fear and confusion, and tried to reach for one another, calling each other's names. Soon everyone that was in the area was pulled into the rift and everything went black.

0o0o0

A spikey-haired blonde was enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the church in the Sector 5 slums when his musings were suddenly interrupted by something falling through the hole in the roof and landing in the middle of the flower bed. He instinctively drew his Buster Sword, ready to meet any potential threat. As he walked up he saw the body of a small boy with hair that was even spikier than his own. He didn't look threatening, but Cloud had spent enough time fighting innocent looking weeds and mushrooms to know not to judge a book by its cover. Besides, the giant golden upside-down pyramid around his neck gave Cloud the weird sense that something wasn't right about this boy, not to mention the odd device clasped on his left wrist, which could be a potential weapon.

Keeping his sword ready he nudged the boy with his foot, earning him a groan indicating that he was still alive. He nudged again, but besides another groan the boy would not wake up. Suddenly the upside-down pyramid around the boy's neck started to glow brightly, nearly blinding a startled Cloud who took a step back and gripped his sword even tighter while taking out a yellow Materia orb for good measure. He took another look at the boy once the light had died down. Besides the glowing eye on his forehead he also looked otherwise different for some reason, though Cloud couldn't quite place his finger on it.

Yami snapped his eyes open and sat up. He'd taken over Yugi's body as soon as he realized his partner was in possible danger, and was now facing a spikey-haired blonde holding an impossibly large sword in his face.

"Who are you?" Cloud demanded to know.

"I could ask you the very same thing." Yami replied calmly, though he kept his Shadow Magic at the ready.

"Since you're the one invading my home and I'm the one holding a sword, you tell me yours first."

Cloud suddenly felt his consciousness drawn to a familiar in-between place where he would go if a certain someone wanted to talk to him, and heard a faint, but familiar sigh. _"Cloud, sheath your sword. This guy is not here to harm you."_

_"Aeris, this guy just fell down from the sky and you expect me to trust him?"_ Cloud replied.

Yami noticed that the guy in front of him had zoned out, though he didn't know why. But he took this opportunity to stand up and back away from him.

Aeris giggled. _"Doesn't the scene sound familiar Cloud? If I remember correctly you once fell down from the sky too as did Zack, and you didn't see me threatening you with my staff now did you?"_

_"No, you went on a date with me." _Zack smirked as he intervened, but he was ignored by both the others.

_"He just looks so odd Aeris. That thing around his neck, and that thing around his arm, and don't forget the blinding light." _Cloud retorted.

Yami quickly assessed that Yugi's soul was still out cold, so now he had to make a quick decision without his partner's help. Since it didn't seem like he could challenge this guy to a game, he did the only other thing that came to mind.

Aeris sighed again. _"I'll explain it to you later, but for now, use that Enemy Skill Materia you got there. Magic Hammer should work."_

"Mind Crush!" Yami shouted while he held his hand up, but before his magic could react to his command a giant hammer appeared and whacked Yami on his head, draining it.

Yami staggered, feeling dizzy at the loss of magic, and Cloud once again held his sword in the other's face.

_"Cloud!"_ Aeris reprimanded sternly.

_"But Aeris, he tried to use some kind of magic on me!" _Cloud argued back.

_"Maybe that giant sword of yours-"_

_"Which is mine by the way." _Zack interrupted, but was ignored again.

_ "-in his face has something to do with it."_ Aeris snorted. _"Now put that away and be nice so I can explain to both of you what's going on."_

Cloud sighed. "Alright Aeris." He said out loud, confusing Yami.

"My name is not Aeris, and what did you just do to me?" Yami bristled as he focussed his attention on his assailant again, but grabbed his head when another dizzy spell arrived.

"I wasn't talking to you." Cloud replied as he put up his sword and sheathed it back on his back. "As to what I just did to you, I drained some of your magic to prevent you from attacking me." He proceeded to produce a bottle of ether from his pocket and threw it to Yami, who caught it. "Drink that and you should feel better."

Yami eyed the bottle suspiciously. "How can I trust you?"

Cloud crossed his arms. "The only reason I'm giving you that is because a friend of mine told me you mean no harm. She also claims she can explain everything. I trust her."

_"Yami, what's going on?"_ Yugi, who had just woken up asked his partner groggily.

_"Yugi!" _Yami replied with obvious relief. _"Thank Ra you're all right. This guy wants me to drink this potion, but since he only just put away his sword and somehow drained my shadow magic I am reluctant to trust him."_

Cloud stood stunned as the one in front of him seemed to zone out the way he just had.

_"Why did he drain your magic?" _Yugi asked with genuine curiosity.

_"Oh…well…uhm…I may…kind of…have tried…to Mind Crush him."_ Yami replied shamefully.

Was he…? No, this guy couldn't possibly have such a strong connection to the Lifestream that he could converse with those in it, right?

_"Yami!"_ Yugi scolded. _"You promised me you wouldn't do that anymore!"_

_"I'm sorry Yugi, but he held a giant knife in my face! What would you expect?"_

After all, Aeris had been the last of the Cetra, and the only reason Cloud could converse with her was because she chose to.

_"For you to stay calm and rational." _Yugi huffed. _"I guess I should take over from here."_

Before Yami could resist Yugi took control of his own body. This stunned Cloud even more. The body in front of him changed again, only this time Cloud noticed the differences. The one in front of him now was slightly smaller and had bigger eyes and softer hair. He smiled at Cloud before the dizziness got to him and he nearly fell over.

"Whoa, you did a real good number on my body." Yugi said shakily as he pulled the stopper from the small bottle in his hands and downed its contents, instantly feeling better.

Cloud watched with both suspicion and curiosity. It seemed as if this guy was a completely different person.

"Okay, what happened to that suspicious dude that tried to 'Mind Crush' me?"

"Well…I…ah." Yugi, not feeling so certain anymore hesitated. "That guy from before wasn't me."

"I gathered that much."

"Yeah…well.. you see this item?" He held up his golden upside-down pyramid. "It's called the Millennium Puzzle and it houses an ancient spirit. He's like my other self, only darker. He's the one you spoke to before." Yugi hesitatingly looked at Cloud to see him unfazed by Yugi's explanation. "Uhm…aren't you going to tell me that I'm crazy or something?"

Cloud regarded him coolly. "Kid, when you've seen what I've seen nothing is going to sound crazy, believe me. Besides, I just witnessed the truth with my own eyes, so unless you're schizophrenic I'll believe you." He cocked his head. "Now, care to tell me who you are?"

"I'm Yugi, and I call my other self Yami." Yugi held out his hand.

Cloud regarded the hand for a while before he took it. "Cloud. Now I believe it's a friend of mine's turn to explain what is going on."

0o0o0

Joey stirred and slowly started to open his eyes.

"Nice to see you've finally decided to join the land of the living, mutt."

Joey shook up and turned around to glare at the ever composed form of Seto Kaiba, arms crossed across his chest as he stared down at Joey's form. "Stop calling me that moneybags, I'm not a dog!" He growled and got up.

"Oh really?" Seto cocked his head. "You certainly growl like one."

Joey balled his fists and continued to growl at Seto, who remained unfazed by Joey's rising anger. He was about to introduce that arrogant prick to his right fist when Seto spoke again.

"This is not the place to fight Wheeler. Look around you."

Joey quickly looked around and gasped. He was no longer in Domino City. They were in some sort of valley. Brown walls loomed around them and there was no sign of any life anywhere.

"Where the heck are we?" He mumbled.

"I have no idea." Seto conceded stoically while looking around. "Though your geek friends would probably argue that the energy released during the duel has created a rift between our world and an alternate dimension in order to for us fight in some sort of destined war, my best guess is that I'm hallucinating again." He turned back to the blonde duellist in front of him. "Which brings me right to an important matter Wheeler. I need find a way to wake up, and I'm not going to stand around and wait for it." He then proceeded to walk off, not caring whether Joey decided to follow him or not.

"Hey Kaiba! Wait up!" Joey ran to catch up with Seto. "How can you say this is but a hallucination? Think about that rift that opened up during the duel. We all saw that, and we were all pulled into it, so maybe we are in an alternate dimension."

Seto didn't look at Joey and just continued while he replied. "Spoken like a true figment of my imagination."

Joey became angry again. He forced Seto to turn around, grabbing the collar of his shirt in the process. "You keep telling yourself that rich boy, but I'm not buying it. If we're here that means there's a good chance Yugi and the others are here as well. Think about Mokuba. What if your thick-headed belief that this isn't real will harm your little brother, huh? What would you do then?"

Seto regarded his assailant, his cold blue eyes veiling the fear over the thought of the possibility that Mokuba could get hurt. "I suggest you take your filthy hands off me Wheeler, before I make you."

Joey continued to glare at Seto, angry that he received no tangible reaction from him. Suddenly he paled and let the arrogant CEO of KaibCorp go to point a shaky finger at something behind him.

"Gaah! I-It's a-a-a g-giant re-ed w-w-wolf!" Joey stuttered.

Seto turned around and indeed saw a giant red wolf-like creature sitting behind him. "Then it's a good thing you're here in my hallucination mutt. Maybe you can talk to it." He jibed.

"I assure you that won't be necessary." Came to polite interjection of the red wolf.

Joey sank to the floor. "I think I'm officially going crazy over all the dog insults thrown at me. For the moment I thought I actually heard it talk."

"Maybe that's because you did."

Seto grunted in suspicion. "Who or what are you?"

The wolf cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to answer both questions or just one?"

Joey sniggered while Seto simply glared, not at all appreciative of the wolf's cocky remark.

"Oh Kaiba, who knew you would ever be mocked by and actual canine."

"Actually, I wasn't trying to mock anyone." The wolf corrected. "Besides I'm something in-between a canine and a feline, but to answer your friend's earlier questions, I'm the guardian of Cosmo Canyon and defender of this Planet. My name is Nanaki, but my friends call me Red XIII."

"Okay that's weird. That doesn't even sound like your real name." Joey asked in confusion.

Red XIII gave a very human-like shrug while sitting on his hind legs. "Yes, well, for some reason I once introduced myself as Red XIII while I perfectly knew my real name is Nanaki and never bothered to change it."

"Charming." Seto turned around with the intention to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a brother to find." Seto slapped himself mentally for that slip of the tongue.

"Ah yes, Mokuba was it?"

Seto spun around again. "If you know anything about my brother then I suggest you spill it now!" He said with a commanding voice.

Red XIII shook his head. "I've been observing you ever since you arrived out of thin air and heard you talking to one another. I don't know where your brother is, but I know a good place to start. My grandfather is very well-versed in the ways of this Planet. Maybe he can provide some answers of how you got here, where your friends and family are, and how to get home."

"Alright!" Joey cheered, and happily started to follow after Red XIII.

Seto however was reluctant to believe a talking red wolf. "'Well-versed in the ways of this Planet' my ass." He mumbled to himself. "Now I'm certain someone spiked my coffee this morning." But despite his denial the thought of finding Mokuba made him follow after the retreating duo.

0o0o0

Reno and Rude looked up when someone knocked on the door of their office, and Reno called for this person to enter. A Shinra officer in a red uniform opened the door and peeked inside.

"Mister Reno, mister Rude, sirs, we have an issue."

Reno and Rude looked at one another with a knowing expression. For the past few months while they were stationed in Junon they had done nothing but breaking up rowdy recruits who couldn't wait in line for lunch. It was a deep hole these two Turks had fallen in and they were getting sick and tired of it. They were even secretly planning on hopping onto the next ship set for Costa del Sol for an unannounced and extended vacation, but it appeared duty called once more.

"Well partner." Reno said as he shook his head. "Do you want to kick some asses into submission or will I?"

"Ehm, sirs?" The officer interrupted nervously before Rude could reply. "This is not about the recruits. The villagers claimed they saw two people pop up out of thin air. Some of my men have apprehended them, but we don't know what to do."

Reno grinned widely and even Rude cracked a subtle smile. Two people popping up out of thin air, now that was interesting. With an eagerness rivalling that of a kid in a candy store, Reno hasted out of the room, Rude following at a more leisurely pace after him. They went through the base and to the elevator that would lead them to the village below. Once there they saw several blue-clothed Shinra infantrymen holding what seemed to be two children.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Reno grinned, tapping his Electro Magnetic Rod idly on his shoulder as he regarded the two youngsters. "According to these people you have appeared out of thin air." He stopped in front of the boy. "Is this true?"

"Now listen here mister." Mokuba growled as he struggled against the one holding him. "My brother is the CEO of KaibaCorp and when he hears of this you'll be in big trouble."

"KaibaCorp?" Reno turned to Rude. "You ever heard of it?" Rude merely shook his head in reply. "Thought so." He turned back to Mokuba. "So now listen here kid, if this brother of yours never told you not to mess with the Turks then he's an idiot. When I ask you a question I expect an answer, so now tell me, did you just pop up out of thin air?"

Mokuba just continued to glare at the Turk in front of him.

"Please sir, don't hurt us." Serenity called to him, even though she was sobbing and shaking in fear. "We don't know what happened, or where we are. Please let us go."

Reno walked up to her and bend over to lift her chin to look her in the eye.

"Hey, keep your hands o-" Mokuba started to say, but his captor placed his hand over his mouth to silence him.

Reno gave a small glance to the feisty boy but then turned his attention back to the girl, who didn't struggle. "Now this one seems to have a lot more sense to her. Why don't you start at the beginning girl."

Serenity started to tell all she could remember; about the duel, the overload, the explosion, and finally the rift that appeared. Reno continued to look into her eyes, as if expecting to see some sign of her lying, but he didn't. He could tell she was telling the truth. He stepped away and turned back to Rude.

"Change of plans partner. I think the President would be very interested in them, so I'm afraid the beach will have to wait." He then turned back to the officer. "Ready a chopper for Midgar. We'll leave as soon as it's ready."

"Yes sir." The officer saluted and proceeded by handing out orders to his men.

0o0o0

"Tristan? Tristan, please wake up." Tea said while shaking her friend's shoulder.

Tristan groaned. "Just five more minutes." He mumbled, before going back to sleep.

Tea sighed in annoyance. "Tristan Taylor, if you don't wake up now I am going to swap your motorcycle for a dinky toy when we get back."

This got Tristan's immediate attention and his eyes snapped open and he sat up. "You wouldn't dare!" He asked bewildered.

Tea sighed and shook her head. "I need some female friends." She mumbled before turning back to Tristan. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

Now that Tristan thought about it, he did remember. He looked around and was shocked. They were in some sort of forest, though the trees were so pale and almost seemed to shine. "Well, we're not in Kansas anymore." He mumbled.

"You think so smartass?" Tea retorted annoyed. "Instead of making witty remarks we should try to find out where we are and where the others are."

Tristan didn't disagree with her and got up, pulling Tea up when he had. They started to walk along what seemed to be a path, calling out to their friends in hope they were somewhere around here. After a while Tristan noticed that they weren't getting any closer to the edge of the trees in the distance. He just knew something wasn't right.

He nudged Tea, getting her attention. "Do you also feel something isn't right about this place?"

Tea nodded and looked a little fearful. "This place is creeping me out Tristan. Please, let's just get out of here."

Tristan nodded back and put an arm around her shoulder in comfort. He hoped his suspicions were wrong and that they would exit the strange forest soon. He also had this nagging feeling that they were being watched, but whenever he looked around he saw or heard no one. Again he hoped his mind was just playing tricks on him, but until they found out where they were he would keep his guard up.

Vincent was eyeing the two strangers as they wandered through the Sleeping Forest, unaware that the forest was making them walk in circles. Normally he wouldn't have given intruders a second glance, knowing full well that they would need the Lunar Harp to be able to navigate the forest. But these two had appeared out of thin air, which had peaked Vincent's interest. He decided to observe them first, moving silently from tree to tree to keep out of sight. He now knew that the boy was called Tristan, while the girl was called Tea and they seemed to be friends. They didn't know where they were, but apparently were out looking for other friends as well. But besides picking up some other names, presumably of those friends, that's all he found out. He had hoped the two would talk about how they got here, but wasn't so lucky.

Suddenly an animal appeared. It was an innocent-looking white hare, holding a carrot in one front paw, but Vincent knew better. This beast was called a Jumping, and although it was rather weak, it was far from innocent. But what was it doing here though? Monsters didn't usually tread into the forest, probably due to its magic. Besides, Jumpings lived to the north in the arctic regions near Icicle Inn. They had no reason to come this far south where it's warmer. The fact that this one was here was just as interesting as these two people popping up out of nowhere, and Vincent made a mental note to investigate the matter as soon as he had dealt with these two humans.

Tea was instantly cooing at the cute creature, not realizing it was dangerous. Vincent knew he had to do something fast or this girl would not live to see another day. He took out his gun and shot at the Jumping. He made a clean hit and the monster bit the dust. Both Tristan and Tea were shocked when they heard the shot, and Tea screamed when she saw the cute little bunny with a gaping hole in its chest. A moment later a man with black hair and a long tattered red cloak jumped out of a nearby tree and landed in front of them. He made sure the Jumping was dead before putting away his gun.

"You!" Tea glared boldly at the newcomer, despite him freaking her out. "Why did you kill that cute little bunny?" She demanded to know, though cringed when his red eyes met her blue ones.

"Be glad that I did, because that 'cute little bunny' was a monster and would have killed you if given the chance." Vincent responded.

"You can't be serious man!" Tristan joined in and took a fighting pose, not trusting this guy one bit. "Demonic rabbits only exist in stories."

"That's what they all say until they get kicked in the gut by one. From what I gathered by observing you, you don't know where you are, so I would advise you to take my word for it."

"Why you arrogant…" Tristan started, but didn't finish his sentence as he lunged at Vincent.

Vincent quickly took out his gun however and aimed it at the young hothead, making Tristan stop in his tracks. "Look, I'm not out to hurt either one of you, but I will if you threaten me. I was merely stating some facts and now I've got a few questions for you." Vincent stated calmly.

Tea walked up to her friend and grabbed his arm to prevent him from doing anything foolish. She was still upset about the dead bunny, but knew that the stranger had spoken the truth. They didn't know where they were. They should probably be grateful that this man was talking to them. Once she was sure Tristan would hold his ground she nodded her head at the intimidating stranger. Vincent put away his gun again and started asking his question. He asked about how they got here, and Tea and Tristan explained what they knew about the rift. Vincent listened intently, and was confused and intrigued at the same time. He had been in a lot of strange situations, but he had never heard about anything like this. Still, he had no problem believing the two. Now all that was left was figure out how to help these two find their friends and a way back home, which Vincent knew wouldn't be easy.

0o0o0

**A/N:** So, how did I do? Did you like it so far?

The next chapter will introduce one of the bad guys. I think the FF7 one is quite easy to guess, but which one of the YGO bad guys will I use? Can you hazard a guess? I'll give you a hint, I'm going to use similarities between both worlds…

In any case, everyone has arrived and met up with another character. In the next chapter some stuff will be explained and people will start to move. I hope I've made you curious enough to follow this story and leave a review! Until next week :D.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Welcome to chapter 2!

I haven't received many reviews yet, but for those that did review: Thank you!

This chapter introduces one of the bad guys and then moves on where the previous chapter has left off. I plan to keep the order of the chapters like this until characters start to come together again. It's difficult for me to use actual humour though. Besides the occasional joke I'm pretty much dry... I don't want to go all overboard with fourth wall breaks etc. I like fourth wall breaks, but I don't feel they fit this story. Let me know if you feel this story doesn't deserve to be classified in the humour genre.

Happy reading! And reviews, ideas, suggestions, etc. are always appreciated!

0o0o0

A white-haired male was walking through the streets of Domino City. He intently scanned his surroundings as he followed the direction his Millennium Ring was taking him. The ancient item had started to act up just mere moments ago and Bakura had been pulled along ever since. He had never experienced the ring to give such a strong reaction. It almost seemed as if it had a life of its own. Bakura was annoyed at the fact, since he believed to have full control over the item, but at the same time he was curious as to why it was reacting so strongly.

"It had better not lead me to a gay bar again." He grumbled to himself.

Memories of what had happened the last time the Millennium Ring had responded to something flashed through his mind. The ring had pretty much dragged him to some shady part of town and stopped in front of what looked like a dance club. He had entered the club without knowing that it was actually a gay bar. His British accent had gotten him a lot of unwanted interest. In the end is was only because of his excellent thieving skills that he managed to get out relatively untouched. He couldn't even begin to fathom why the ring had brought him there in the first place. As far as he could tell there had been no other Millennium items present in the bar. On the other hand he didn't get much of a chance to look around before several men, all dressed up like police officers or like an Indian chieftain, had started groping him.

Luckily for him the ring wasn't bringing him to anything related to homosexuality. Instead, it brought him to the exact same place where just a few moments ago a duel had ended with the appearance of a rift and the disappearance of some people. Bakura narrowed his eyes in interest when he saw the rift. He looked at the ring and saw that all of its points were pointing towards it. At first he thought that the rift might be some access point to the Shadow Realm, but his Shadow Magic told him otherwise. He could tell that the rift was created by a high amount of duel energy, though how that was possible he didn't know. The only explanation would be that the Pharaoh and his friends had something to do with it. Even from a distance he could feel the rift trying to pull him in, so he had no doubt that the aforementioned people had probably met that fate. He scowled at the offending anomaly. Though the thought of the Pharaoh being potentially dead or at least trapped in some unknown world gave Bakura a great sense of satisfaction, the fact that the ancient king would never let go of the Millennium Puzzle would mean that the item would potentially be lost with him. Bakura needed the item if he was to continue with his plan. Without any hesitation he stepped up to the rift and allowed it to suck him in its folds. He had to retrieve the Millennium Puzzle no matter what the costs.

0o0o0

Yugi sat down next to the flower bed with Yami's spirit form by his side while Cloud zoned out again as he talked to Aeris.

"_So what's going on here Aeris?" _Cloud demanded to know.

"_Impatient much?" _Aeris replied teasingly accusingly, making Cloud feel slightly ashamed of himself. _"I'll tell you in a minute Cloud, but first I need to make sure Yugi and Yami can see me and we can see both of them."_

Cloud frowned. As far as he knew only he could see and hear Aeris. _"How will you do that?"_

"_It's quite simple really. All you need to do is take out your Sense Materia, press it against the front of his Millennium Puzzle and activate it. I should be able to reach into the item that way."_

Cloud frowned again, but knew he could trust Aeris, even if this _should_ happen. He walked up to his box of Materia and searched through the glowing orbs until he found another yellow one. Yugi watched him curiously. As soon as Cloud walked up to him with the Materia orb however he felt Yami's distrust. Yugi had to struggle slightly to make sure he had firm control over his body. Cloud stopped a few steps away from Yugi and held out the yellow orb.

"This is a Sense Materia. According to my friend we can use it to make you see her while we'll also be able to see the both of you. All I need to do is press it up to your puzzle and she'll do the rest." Cloud explained.

"_Yugi I don't trust this. He used one of those orbs on me to drain my magic. Who is to say this one won't kill you?" _Yami voiced his concern.

"I trust him Yami." Yugi said out loud. "He's had plenty of opportunity to kill me if he wanted to."

"_That's true."_ Yami conceded. _"But at least let me take over Yugi. If something does go wrong I'll be able to handle it better than you will."_

Yugi nodded and released his hold on his body, allowing his own soul to drift into the Millennium Puzzle so Yami's soul could come out. Cloud watched the change again with fascination. Once Yami was in full control he eyed Cloud suspiciously.

"You may proceed now, but I warn you, do anything to hurt my partner and you will face the consequences." Yami said.

Cloud, who was unfazed by Yami's hostility, walked up to him and lightly pressed the Sense Materia against the eye on front on the Millennium Puzzle. As soon as he activated it he could feel Aeris's presence pour into the item. The normal effect of the Materia also allowed him to find out a bit more about Yugi and Yami, which was an interesting bonus.

Aeris walked down the hallway inside the Millennium Puzzle until she reached two doors on either side. The one on her left was small and filled with toys and games. Inside was Yugi's soul, who looked up when he spotted her.

"I guess you must be Cloud's friend?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, my name is Aeris. You must be Yugi." Aeris replied.

Yugi smiled and held out his hand, which Aeris took. "Nice to meet you." Yugi said. "So what do we do now?"

"I need to find your partner's soul and then synchronize our magic. That should allow us all to see each other." She explained.

Yugi blinked in confusion. "Synchronize your magic? How is that possible?"

"It might be best if we find your friend first, so I won't have to explain it twice."

Yugi grinned sheepishly. "That might be a good idea. His spirit should be in the room across the hallway."

Aeris turned around and walked up to the door behind her with Yugi in tow. She calmly opened the door and looked inside. This room consisted out of a multitude of steps and doorways. Yami's soul was waiting for them in the middle of the room, standing proudly with the poise of the Pharaoh he used to be. Aeris ignored him however and looked around the room.

"It's just like I suspected." She murmured. "Yes, this should work nicely."

"So, care to explain how you were able to enter the Millennium Puzzle?" Yami demanded to know, earning him a scolding glare from Yugi but he ignored it.

Aeris turned to the spikey-haired couple, who were watching her with anticipation for an explanation. "The reason I'm able to enter the Millennium Puzzle like this is because your item holds a connection with a place that used to be in this world." Aeris explained. "An ancient race called the Cetra or the Ancients built a place called the Temple of the Ancients in order to protect a powerful Materia. Like this," She gestured the Pharaoh's soul room, "the temple consisted out of many intertwining stairways and doors in order to confuse any unwanted visitors. Also," She eyed the Millennium Puzzle around their necks, "the temple was built into the likeness of a pyramid. I am the last descendent of the Cetra, and through my connection with the temple I was able to use Cloud's Sense Materia to enter the puzzle."

"And now you need to synchronize your magic with Yami's so we can talk outside of the puzzle?" Yugi asked.

Aeris nodded. "Yes. Since the Temple of the Ancients and the Millennium Puzzle are so alike it shouldn't be too much trouble to do that. Then it'll be easier to talk and I can explain why you are here."

Yami was slowly starting to trust the young woman in front of him. She didn't appear threatening and was willing to answer their questions. "What do we need to do?" He asked calmly.

Aeris walked up to him and held out her hands. "Just hold my hands and close your eyes. I'll take the lead. Just try to let your magic fall into tune with mine. You should be able to know how to do that once we start."

Yami did as he was told and took her hands and closed his eyes. He soon felt a slight tingling sensation of magic and countered it with his own. He could instantly tell that they were out of tune. He felt the magic coming from Aeris adjust itself and strove to meet it. Before long their magic was synchronized and Yami opened his eyes again to see Cloud standing in front of him. The spirit form of Aeris was standing beside him. Cloud could now also see Yugi's spirit form beside Yami. It had worked. Aeris giggled and clapped her hands, obviously thrilled that it had actually worked. Yugi smiled and also gave Yami a smug look that clearly meant 'I told you so'. Yami looked slightly guilty and Cloud just calmly put away his Materia. They all gathered around the transparent form of Aeris so she could start explaining the purpose of them being here.

0o0o0

After they had been walking for several minutes, Red XIII had led Joey and Seto to a small town built against the side of the cliff. Houses were scattered along the rocky terraces and at the top was a building with a giant telescope. Joey's eyes were bulging out of its sockets as he looked around. The place was so different from Domino City, but what surprised him even more was that he saw humans walking around. After meeting Red XIII, he had somehow expected to find a town filled with his own kind. He was dying to know more about this place. Seto on the other hand wasn't so keen on playing tourist. Even though the fact that there seemed to be only humans around didn't go unnoticed, his worry for his brother's welfare made him disregard it.

"So where is this grandfather of yours?" Seto said gruffly, clearly impatient.

Red XIII on the other hand didn't seem to notice, or at the very least didn't let it affect him. "He's usually at home, which is the house at the top of the cliff." He announced calmly before turning to the set of stairs on his left. "I'll lead the way, so please follow me."

Red XIII set off to climb the stairs with Joey and Seto in tow. Joey groaned after a while, while Seto just continued climbing stoically like it wasn't any different from taking a stroll in the park.

"Why does he have to live at the very top?" Joey complained once he reached the top of the first set of stairs, staring ominously at the second one. "Don't you guys have an elevator or something?"

"The people here are very studious and traditional." Red XIII explained calmly. "My grandfather requires peace and quiet and enough room to conduct all his research. Besides, the exercise will do you good no doubt."

Joey groaned some more but didn't complain when the thought of his sister being out there somewhere hit him. If climbing a few meant the he would find out where his sister was, then he was willing to suffer any sore and aching muscles.

Arriving at the top of the stairs, the three entered the cave and proceeded to climb up the interior stairs and ladders. Neither Red XIII nor Seto seemed to be winded by the climb, while Joey struggled to keep up despite thoughts of Serenity urging him on. He still wondered why no one had bothered to build an elevator while along the way he did see some signs of modern technology. It didn't make much sense to him.

"Grandpa, I'm home!" Red XIII called out as they entered the shack at the top of the cliff.

"Now you sound like Yugi." Joey mumbled under his breath, though nobody heard him.

An old man came floating out of one of the other rooms on what seemed to be a green hoverpad. But what surprised Joey even more was that this man was clearly human, making the teen wonder how he could possibly be Red XIII's grandfather.

"Welcome back Nanaki. I see you've brought some friends." The old man said cheerfully.

"Cut the formalities old man." Seto grumbled impatiently. "According to this creature over here you might know something about my brother."

"Yeah, and I'm looking for my sister." Joey added.

"Ho Ho Hooo! Patience my friends. How can I ever know about your siblings if I don't even know who you are?"

"And why do you sound like Santa all of a sudden?" Joey asked in genuine surprise.

"In case you forgot, mutt, this is a hallucination. They are not supposed to make sense. Your presence here only proves that point." Seto snapped at him, causing Joey to growl at him.

"Will you stop being so thick-headed Kaiba? If this is all just an hallucination then why bother looking for Mokuba?" Joey's expression suddenly became smug. "The fact that you want to find him proves to me that you aren't so sure as you make yourself out to be."

Seto did his best to suppress the growl forming at the back of his throat and didn't offer any further argument. Even though Joey annoyed him, he did make have a good point. Just the slight possibility that he was wrong compelled him to do anything within his power to find and protect his little brother.

Taking Seto's silence as a victory Joey smugly turned away from the arrogant CEO and faced the old man again. "Well gramps, my name is Joey Wheeler, and mister stick-up-his-ass here is Kaiba. But I'd also like to know how the two of you can possibly be related."

"Ho Ho Hooo! It's very nice to meet you Joey. I'm Bugenhagen, and Nanaki and I aren't related by blood if that's what you were thinking. Now perhaps someone can explain to me why I would know something about your siblings."

"I saw them pop up out of thin air in the canyon grandpa." Red XIII started to explain. "I heard them talking about how they got here and this young man here believes they are from another dimension. There might be a chance their siblings are also somewhere around here, and I thought you might know what's going on."

Bugenhagen's expression turned pensive as he pondered over Red XIII's explanation. "Hmm…I must admit that I've felt something strange coming from the Planet a little while ago. Perhaps this is connected to your arrival."

"Why are you insistent on talking about a planet as if it's alive?" Seto intervened. "I'm not here to waste my time hearing you talk about this crap. Either you tell me if you know where I can find my brother or I'll go look for him myself."

Bugenhagen shook his head. "You clearly are not from this world young man. I assure you that the Planet is alive in a sense, and it's been acting strange lately. I'm not sure what's wrong, but I can hazard a guess on why you ended up here and where you may find you siblings."

Joey's eyes lit up in hope. "Please tell us gramps. I'm worried sick about my little sister. Any help would be great."

"Ho Ho Hooo! Now that's the spirit young man." Bugenhagen's hover pad bounced jovially in his excitement, giving him a rather comical look.

"Then start talking." Seto grumbled.

"Once again, patience my friend. Now, considering the Planet itself has something to do with you arrival, for whatever reason, I think it has brought you to a place close to the Lifestream."

"Lifestream, what's that?" Joey asked, making Seto groan silently for the interruption.

"Ho Ho Hooo! The Lifestream is the Planet's life source, but every living being on this Planet is connected to it. When we die, our souls return to the Lifestream, and from the Lifestream we are reborn anew." Bugenhagen paused to look at the two young men before him. Joey was intently listening to him, while Seto seemed to become more impatient by the second. "There are several places on this Planet close to the Lifestream. This place, Cosmo Canyon, is one such places. I think you may find your family somewhere at those other places."

"All right!" Joey cheered. "Now all you need to do is give us some directions and we can get going."

"For the first time I agree with you Wheeler." Seto agreed.

Bugenhagen shook his head again. "It's not that simple. Such places are numerous and spread far apart. If I can figure out why you two wound up here exactly I might be able to give you better directions."

"You think there's a specific reason they wound up at this specific place grandpa?" Red XIII inquired.

Bugenhagen sighed. "I'm not certain, but if there's a reason and we can figure it out it'll greatly reduce the number of places where they should look."

0o0o0

Mokuba and Serenity were still clinging to each other, scared to death even though Mokuba tried to appear brave. They were in a chopper on their way to a place they'd never heard about, with the seemingly lazy red head and the intimidating bald man scrutinizing them. Everything had gone so fast after Reno had ordered a chopper to be prepared for Midgar. They were quickly dragged off to the elevator the two Turks had come out of, and taken to the huge city above where they helicopter was already waiting for them. Without any further ado they had been stashed inside and the chopper had taken off. Mokuba had tried to get out of their grasp, but a light shock from Reno's EMR had quickly ceased any further struggles. Now the two youngsters were simply confused and afraid. They didn't know where they were and they were worried sick for their brothers. They just hoped that Joey and Seto were okay.

The flight didn't take very long, as a large city came into view as soon as they had passed the nearby mountains. The city had an ominous feel to it, and the chopper went straight for it.

"Welcome to Midgar kids." Reno remarked good-humouredly. "Here you'll have the honour of meeting President Shinra himself. I hope you've brought along some manners."

"And what if we didn't?" Mokuba remarked bravely, causing Serenity to cringe over his cockiness, afraid Reno would hurt him again.

Reno simply smirked. "I like your spunk kid, but I suggest you can it while in front of the President. He's a very impatient man, who doesn't tolerate disobedience. If he orders me to teach you a lesson in humility, then I will."

"Please Mokuba." Serenity pleaded. "I know you're simply trying to be brave, but I don't want you to get hurt."

Reno smiled and sat back as he turned to Rude. "Would you look at that partner. Isn't this just the sweetest romantic moment you've ever witnessed?"

Rude didn't respond but made a small chuckling sound. Mokuba, he didn't like being made fun of, wanted to lunge at Reno, but the red-head quickly noticed and held out his fully powered EMR, stopping Mokuba in his tracks.

"I suggest you take your girlfriend's advice kid and control your temper."

Mokuba glared but silently resumed his place next to Serenity. As soon as he had sat down the pilot announced that they were about to land at Shinra HQ. As the chopper was lowered down to the helipad Mokuba couldn't help but being reminded of his brother's company HQ. Both buildings were high, and stood out among the other buildings, serving as a pinnacle of the city. But despite the similarities, it wasn't the same, and the impending meeting with this so-called President only fuelled the fear these two kids felt. Rude was the first one to get off the chopper when it had touched down. Reno looked at the two kids and smiled in a deceptively friendly manner.

"Ladies and spunky kids first." He said mockingly as he waved with his EMR for them to get off the chopper.

Serenity nervously complied and carefully got off. Mokuba quickly followed her with Reno closely behind him. The two Turks proceeded to lead the pair through the door at the side of the landing zone, which immediately brought them into a spacious office. A blonde man in a white suite was sitting behind a large desk, eyeing the new arrivals curiously. Again Mokuba was reminded by how similar it all was to his brother's office, though he had to admit even his brother's desk wasn't _that_ big. If Seto had been here, then his ego would've certainly suffered a harsh blow.

"So are these the two you called about Reno?" The man inquired calmly in a tone that made the two youngsters shiver even more in fear.

"Yes sir mister President." Reno replied as he leisurely leaned against a pillar. "These are the ones who have apparently popped out of thin air and are presumably from another world."

"I see…" The man got up and slowly walked around his desk until he was right in front of Serenity and Mokuba. He eyed them critically, as if merely observing them would provide him with all the answers. "I am Rufus Shinra, President of Shinra, and I basically rule this very Planet. I would very much like to hear about your world. Who knows, maybe I can even help you find a way back home."

On the surface, the blonde man seemed to be kind, but there was something about him that made the two children nervous. They didn't expect this man to offer them to help find a way back home. In truth this wasn't the sole motive of Rufus's actions. He was very interested in what information he could squeeze out of these two children, hoping he could expand his company's influence to another world.

0o0o0

Under Vincent's guidance and with the aid of his Lunar Harp the trio navigated through the strange forest without any further incidents. They were mostly silent along the way. Vincent wasn't a very talkative person and Tea and Tristan were still a bit apprehensive of the mysterious man. Tea couldn't help but wonder whether everyone in this world was like this guy. With his red eyes and dark clothes the association with a vampire was easily made, and she hoped that they hadn't wound up in a world full of those blood-sucking creatures. On the other hand it was probably just her imagination running wild. It didn't take away the fact that this world was strange to the newcomers, though. Then again, playing a children's card game in order to fight bad guys and save the world also didn't stroke with any definition of the word 'normal'.

Tea swallowed nervously, but worked up the courage to walk up to the mysterious person. "So…you haven't even told us your name. I'm Tea by the way."

"I already know your names from observing you before." Vincent replied. "You do not need to introduce yourselves to me."

Tea cringed a bit at the harsh reply, but didn't want to give up that easily. "We still don't know your name though. It's awkward not being able to call you by name."

Silence fell for a while as they continued walking. Tea sighed and was about to give up when the other responded. "It's Vincent." He said. "Vincent Valentine."

"Whoa! Seriously?" Tristan intervened.

"Is there something wrong about my name?"

Tristan shook his head. "It's just that we know a Mai Valentine. It's pretty funny how two very different people from two very different worlds have the same surname."

"How is she different?" Vincent inquired, unable to deny his curiosity had been piqued.

"Well, for one she's a woman while you're a man. She's blonde, while your have black hair. She's very outgoing while you seem to be rather reserved. All in all, you're like fire and ice." Tristan explained.

"I see…"

Silence fell again, the topic apparently discussed sufficiently, until Tea spoke up again. "Anyway, where are you taking us?"

"We need to cross the sea in order to reach an acquaintance of mine who can help you find your friends." Vincent replied. "You'll see once we get out of this forest."

And sure enough only moments later the trees started to thin out and a small plain leading over to a small beach in the distance could be seen.

"Are you freaking serious?!" Tristan yelled loudly when they finally reached the coast.

When Vincent had told them they have to cross the sea he hadn't expected to see what he saw right in front of his nose. He had expected there to be a boat, even if it had been a wooden rowing boat it would still at least have been a boat. But what was in front of them wasn't a boat in any definition of the word. It was a small plane. Now that on its own wasn't what made Tristan react the way he did. No, it was that fact that this plane was stranded on the beach looking like it wasn't going to take off to the skies soon that did it.

Vincent ignored the question and continued to walk up to the plane, having every intention to use it as their mode of travel. Tea just huffed and dragged Tristan along.

"Seriously Tristan," She started saying, "we wind up in another world where we witness a strange guy with a vampire fetish kill an innocent bunny, play a musical instrument in order to get us out of some strange enchanted forest, and you're surprised by our mode of transportation?" She shook her head. "This is not our world Tristan, so nothing surprised me anymore."

"The Tiny Bronco will get us to where we need to go." Vincent notified them. "So I suggest that you hop on."

Without any further protests the two stranded teens did as they were told. They were baffled by this strange world, but hoped they would soon find their friends and a way back home.

0o0o0

**A/N:** A gay friend of mine actually used the word 'gaydar' recently, and she doesn't know YGOTAS. I thought it was funny.

I think the connection between the Millennium Puzzle and the Temple of the Ancients was quite a stroke of genius.  
Seto's actual character is harder to write than I thought. I think I made Joey happy though :).  
I think Reno is awesome. I can't imagine him being different.  
I'm not too happy with the Vincent, Tea, Tristan scene. Vincent is also very hard to write, and I basically have very little to say. I'm not sure whether the comparison between and Mai is even fitting, or whether it came out of the blue...

That's it for this chapter! In the next one Bakura meets another bad guy. More is explained and more people will start to move. The whole dog insulting thing of Seto will turn around and bite him in the behind. Until next week! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Welcome to chapter 3!

Lots of new reviewers who have been urging me to keep on going. Thank you! It's really motivating and this chapter was eventually written with much more ease than I'd expected :).

**To guest reviewer ****ShooTheOtherGuy:** Glad you like the story so far. I agree that Bakura is awesome, and he just fits the role perfectly, as will become more apparent in this chapter. As for making chapters longer, it's either keeping them this length and being able to update every week, or making them longer with more time between updates. I personally prefer to update regularly. I understand the sentiment, though ;).

This chapter simply continues where chapter 2 left off. Bakura takes his first steps onto Planet Gaia. For the fans of the game, can you guess where he appears? Yugi, Yami, Cloud and Aeris gather around for some well-needed explanation. Joey, Seto, Red XIII and Bugenhagen narrow down their list of where to look for Mokuba and Serenity. Gya haa haa haa and Kya ha ha are up to no good. And finally Vincent nearly initiates a friendship speech from Tea.

Happy reading! And reviews, ideas, suggestions, etc. are always appreciated!

0o0o0

Ryou was confused. When he had woken up he had found himself in a strange location. He had no idea how he got there, but that wasn't much of a surprise to the white-haired teen, since his darker half usually completely suppressed the lighter soul. So it wasn't the first time that Ryou found himself somewhere different than where he had been last he remembered, wondering why his darker half had decided to take a hike. Like that time when he suddenly found himself in a bar in downtown Domino with a glass of beer in his hand and his body obviously intoxicated. Sadly, he had been the one to deal with the hangover the morning after while his yami could just lean back and relax. But at least before he always knew where he was. This time he had no clue however. He was in some sort of crater. He could see the sunlight pouring in from above, but had no idea of how to get there. How did his darker half bring him here, and why? Was this some sort of elaborate joke, meant to scare him?

Instead of pondering over these questions now, Ryou decided to walk around and see if he could find a way out. After a while he came to a ledge with something that seemed to be a glowing green river a little ways below him. Feeling curious, Ryou decided to climb down so he could check it out. Even though the slope wasn't that steep and the ledge not that high, a loose rock caused Ryou to slip away and, with a yelp of surprise, fall into the strange river. He desperately tried to reach the surface again, only to find that he wasn't making any progress. Whatever this stuff was, it was no ordinary glowing green water.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A voice called out of nowhere, making Ryou halt his movements to see where it came from.

The visage of a man with long silver hair and dressed in black leather appeared before him, surprising and scrutinizing Ryou. At first Ryou was stunned, but he was brought back to the moment by the burning feeling in his lungs. He started to struggle towards the surface again, finding out that he had actually no idea which way the surface was. Eventually he couldn't hold his breath any longer and released it, quickly finding out that he could breathe. What was this place? Meanwhile the silver-haired man continued to observe him with an unreadable expression on his flawless face.

"I didn't realize there was still a clone of mine left." The visage suddenly spoke, making Ryou frown in confusion over his words. "But no matter. This just meant that I'll have a new body sooner than planned."

The man reached out for Ryou. Confused and afraid Ryou crossed his arms in front of his face and screamed, yelling at the man to stay away. Suddenly the Millennium Ring started to shine and his darker half, who had regained consciousness moments before and had been observing what was going on, took over. With the magic of the ancient item Bakura repelled the man.

"What's this?" The man's green cat-like eyes narrowed in anger. "How is it possible for a mere clone to defy me?"

"I don't know who you are or what you're talking about, but I am not a clone." Bakura retorted. "This host is mine."

"Your host?" The man questioned.

"Damn right it is, and I won't let you take what's mine." Bakura took a defensive stance

The man, didn't move however, but fell silent for a while, seemingly pondering over something. "I guess you're right." He conceded. "You do not carry Mother's cells, but I do sense another soul."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, wondering how this man, creature, something could sense something like that. Despite having been able to repel it earlier, he knew he needed to be careful.

"You seem to sense a great deal." Bakura said. "Perhaps you can even enlighten me with who or what you are and where the hell I am."

"All of the Planet's life is connected through the Lifestream, but I sense nothing about you. You are not from this world." It was a statement, not a question, and it didn't even address Bakura's inquiry in the slightest.

"No shit Sherlock, now answer my questions." Bakura crossed his arms to show his patience was at an end, but the man simply continued ignoring him as he continued.

"The Planet has been fighting me, but it's too weak. It knows I will eventually take control of the Lifestream and become a God unto this world. It seems that it has reached out to other worlds to aid it in its futile struggle." The man finally regarded Bakura with an unreadable expression. "It must be foolish to think you could be of any help."

"Who says I'm here to help this Planet?" Bakura snorted, a bit annoyed by the man's dismissive behaviour. "I came here for entirely different reasons."

Silence fell as the man pondered over Bakura's words. "I believe you." He finally said. "Judging from how the Planet works it wouldn't have dropped you off right into my clutches. I believe your presence might be to counterbalance the presence of others of your world." The man vainly flipped some of his long silver locks over his shoulder. "Are there others of your world here?"

Bakura waited before replying, weighing his options with this strange man, creature, whatever he was. It seemed he was the adversary in this struggle, which could suit him just fine, considering the Pharaoh and his friends were most likely somewhere around this world aiding it. An alliance could be beneficial to him.

"I am convinced that they are." Bakura started. "I was searching for my adversary when I stumbled upon a rift in my world. I knew he and his friends went through, so I followed in order to finally defeat him for good."

"Then it might be beneficial for us to join forces."

"Finally you talk some sense." Bakura grinned. "Now will you tell me who or what you are?"

"I am Sephiroth." The man introduced himself. "Even though I have no body anymore my will remains strong in here in the Lifestream, until I am strong enough to take control of it."

"The name's Bakura. Tombrobber, thief, you name it and I do it. Now how are we going to tackle this problem?"

"I am not yet strong enough to manifest myself outside of the Lifestream without the aid of a host." Sephiroth explained while eying the Millennium Ring around Bakura's neck. "But perhaps with that item with which you control your host we will be able to come up with something."

Bakura clenched his teeth at the idea. "No offense, but this body is mine. I'll not allow you to use it."

"There might be no need for that. With the aid of Mother's cells and your magic I might be able to manifest myself without the use of your host's body."

"Aren't you mommy's little boy." Bakura griped sarcastically. "Seriously, what's all this crap about 'mother's cells'?"

Sephiroth's expression, which had been stoic during most of the conversation, suddenly contorted into anger. "Do not dare to insult Mother." He hissed. "She is the reason I am what I am today, and with her remains I will claim this world as my own."

Bakura held up his hands in surrender. "Geez, you didn't have to get so worked up about it. Now tell me how this is going to work."

Some of Sephiroth's anger dissipated, but he remained on guard as he started to explain his plan.

0o0o0

"I don't know all the details of why you're here, but I can give you the main picture." Aeris started explaining. "A few years ago Cloud, myself, and our other friends were involved in a war that threatened to destroy our very world. We managed to defeat the man responsible, but the Planet was severely weakened in the process and needs time to recover. Now it appears that the threat of Sephiroth and Jenova isn't over yet."

"Hold on." Cloud interrupted. "How is that possible? I destroyed Sephiroth and Jenova was under his control."

Aeris shook her head in sadness. "You destroyed Sephiroth's physical body, but his will continues to remain strong inside the Lifestream. It's only a matter of time before he's strong enough again continue where he'd left off. The Planet is attempting to prevent that." She looked at Yugi and Yami. "That's where you come in. In order to counteract this threat the Planet reached out to another world for help. It appears that this was your world."

"Wow." Yugi murmured softly as he let the news sink in. He then turned to Yami. "Yami do you think the others are here too?"

Yami nodded. "I'm afraid so partner. We were all sucked into the rift, so it's safe to say our friends are here as well."

"They are." Aeris confirmed. "You were spread out across the Planet, but I don't know exactly where they are."

Yugi nodded in understanding. "Well we need to find them before we can even get back, so we might be able to help you out while we do." He paused as he eyed Cloud's Buster Sword before he continued. "How are we able to help, though? We're not exactly warriors."

Aeris's expression turned slightly desperate. "There must be something you can do. In order for the Planet to even reach you you must have some sort of skill?"

Yugi eyed the puzzle around his neck. "Well, we already established that there's a connection between my puzzle and that temple of yours. Maybe its magic can help you out?" He then turned to Yami, who nodded.

"Well thought partner." Yami said. "Maybe we can be of some help. But I think it wise to find out more about this Sephiroth and Jenova."

"And I think it's wise we also gather our friends and find out what to do Cloud." Aeris said. "Maybe some of their friends have come into contact with ours. You should take them over to Tifa to get started. You can tell them the whole story on your way there."

Cloud nodded and started to gather the things he needed. He was tense, worried about the thought of having to face Sephiroth again. It had been a hard battle then, and he was sure it wasn't going to be easy now if the Planet had even decided to reach out for help. Once he was done he led Yugi outside. Aeris sadly couldn't join them, her presence tied to the Lifestream and where it was strong. Along the way from Sector 5 to Sector 7 he explained everything that had happened in their battles against Sephiroth and Jenova. Yugi and Yami listened intently, asking an occasional question as they followed him.

After a while they reached the gate forming the boundary between Sector 6 and Sector 7. Yugi and Yami noticed how the gate looked newer than the area around them. After Cloud and his friends had defeated Sephiroth, and Shinra hadn't been able to find the Promised Land where Rufus's father had planned to build Neo-Midgar, Rufus had eventually relented in having the destroyed Sector rebuild. Once the plate had been finished Tifa had gone back to the slums below to rebuild her bar 7th Heaven, which was where Cloud was leading the newcomers to right now.

They went through the gate and navigated their way through the Sector until they reached 7th Heaven and went inside. A woman with long brown hair was standing behind the bar, smiling when she saw who had come in.

"Welcome back Cloud." She greeted the spiky-haired blonde. She then noticed Yugi, who had been walking behind Cloud. "Oh, I'd never expected you to be the one to bring in new customers Cloud. Who's this?"

"We've got trouble Tifa." Cloud said seriously as he took up a seat at the bar.

He gestured for Yugi to do the same, which he did, and then started to explain the situation.

0o0o0

Seto was getting increasingly annoyed. His brother was out there somewhere and they were still no step closer to where he might be. The old man, Bugenhagen, had listed several places that were close to this so-called Lifestream, but so far they hadn't been able to narrow down the list. His own suggestion that it was due to similarities between the red wolf and the mutt was met with a rather fierce display of how the blonde duellist was exactly nothing more but a dog.

"Will you stop with the dog insults Kaiba?!" Joey growled. "This isn't the time nor the place for them. I swear I had thought that the great Seto Kaiba would know better where his little brother was concerned."

"Wait a minute, your name is Seto?" Bugenhagen intervened before Seto could retort.

"Yes, but why is that important?" Seto inquired testily, seeing no way how his first name could be relevant.

Bugenhagen was becoming excited, however. "Ho Ho Hooo! I think I've cracked this puzzle." He said with a big grin on his face.

"Really?" Joey was dumbfounded.

"What is it grandpa?" Red XIII inquired, sharing some of his grandfather's excitement.

"The name, Nanaki, Seto, what does that remind you of?"

Red XIII thought for a while until comprehension dawned on him. "My father." He said solemnly. "His name was Seto too."

Joey's face suddenly contorted into a huge grin. "Ha! Who's related to a dog now Kaiba? No offence Red."

"Non taken." Red XIII replied, able to see the humour in the comment.

Kaiba wasn't as amused however and Joey couldn't stifle the laughter at the way his face contorted in annoyance. It was just priceless. Instead of retorting on the offending remark, Seto decided to address the matter at hand and turned back to Bugenhagen.

"I fail to see how the coincidental correspondence between my first name and his father's first name is relevant."

"Ho Ho Hooo! It might mean nothing, but it also might mean everything!" Bugenhagen said cryptically. "The name may be purely coincidental, but it might also be the exact reason you wound up here of all places."

"What are the names of your siblings?" Red XIII asked.

"Mokuba."

"Serenity."

Red XIII thought about it for a while, sitting on his haunches with his front paws crossed in a human-like manner as he did so. "No, doesn't ring a bell."

Joey's face, which had been filled with anticipation, fell, while Seto remained as stoic as ever.

"Don't give up hope yet my friends." Bugenhagen said optimistically. "Just because the name isn't the only connection doesn't mean there are no connections at all. Perhaps there's another connection between your siblings and where they are." He then turned to Red XIII. "Nanaki, can you think of anywhere you've been that might have that connection?"

"Hmm…" Red XIII pondered. "We know they are your siblings, a boy and a girl, younger than you, their names are Mokuba and Serenity, and are probably at a place close to the Lifestream." He fell silent for a while as he thought about each place and the connection it could have. He eventually looked up. "Nibelheim and Junon come to mind."

"Ho Ho Hooo! Now we're getting somewhere. Why those places Nanaki?"

"Cloud and Tifa grew up in Nibelheim as kids and we met and helped a young girl called Priscilla at Junon when we were chasing after Sephiroth."

Bugenhagen nodded. "Sharp thinking Nanaki." He then turned to the other two. "Then I suggest you start your search at Nibelheim. It's closest."

Red XIII nodded in agreement. "And even if your siblings aren't there you'll need a way to Junon, which is on another continent to the east of here. Nibelheim lies relatively close to Rocket Town, where a friend of mine can help you out further."

"All right!" Joey pumped his fist into the air. "Now we can finally head out!"

"I'll leave as soon as you tell me where I can find Nibelheim." Seto cut straight to the point.

"It lies to the north of here, but I think it's wise if Nanaki goes with you." Bugenhagen said.

"I can take care of myself. I don't need a talking wolf to slow me down." Seto said as he turned to walk away.

Red XIII finally had enough of Seto's attitude towards him and swiftly moved to stand in front of him. He crouched down low and raised his tail as he growled threateningly. "Now listen here." He barked. "I've had enough of your attitude. I've done nothing but be polite to you and offering you my help. You may be able to handle yourself in your world, but you are in a completely different one right now. You wouldn't even survive the journey out of this canyon without protection. There are monsters out there who would attack you without a second thought, so I would suggest you keep your opinion to yourself if you want to make it through alive and find your brother."

Joey slowly moved to stand beside the angered red wolf. "Red is right Kaiba. Despite what you may think we are in a strange place we don't know anything about. I want to find my sister as much as you want to find your brother. Once they're safe we can find the other and a way out of here. But we need to work together on this. To deny that is just plain stupid Kaiba."

Seto huffed, his pride not allowing him to admit his wrong. "Fine then. You can tag along if you want to." He quickly brushed past the other two and left the building.

Joey sighed. "Sorry about him. He's a real arrogant bastard."

"You don't have to apologize for his behaviour Joey. I'm just glad you aren't the same way." Red XIII, who had relaxed from his tense pose, assured him.

Joey nodded. "Well we had better follow him before he runs into trouble."

Red XIII agreed and led the way out. They soon caught up with Seto and left Cosmo Canyon in search of their missing siblings.

0o0o0

Mokuba was attempting to comfort a sobbing Serenity. She was scared. Scared of where they were and where her brother was. Mokuba tried his best to stay strong for her, but he couldn't deny he was just as scared as she was. After their meeting with the President, in which he had questioned them for hours about their world and how they got here, they had been escorted to the room they were now in. It wasn't a prison cell, but Mokuba knew the door was locked and guarded so they couldn't get away.

What was worst of all was that Mokuba was aware of what the man was trying to do. He had spent enough time watching his brother manage KaibaCorp to know that a man like Rufus Shinra wouldn't be inclined to selflessly help them find a way home. The fact that this man seemed to have an army, and was basically in control of the whole world despite being an electrical power company only added to this idea. What he hadn't understood was what this man was exactly after. They had been questioned about Mako and something called the Lifestream. Two terms which were a complete mystery for the two. And now they were here, in this room. Their only option to wait and see what the future had in store for them.

They didn't know that a small suggestion would turn the tables in their favour. After having dismissed the two children Rufus had called for a board meeting. All of the high ranking Shinra personnel was present, including Reno and Rude.

"Something very interesting happened today, and I'd like to hear your thoughts." Rufus started the meeting. He then gestured for Reno, who was slouched in a relaxed manner in his chair, to explain.

"Rude and I were stationed at Junon when we received word that two people had popped up out of thin air. We confirmed this and took the two back to Midgar." Reno reported.

"Popped out of thin air, eh? Gya haa haa haa! That certainly sounds interesting." A fat, black-haired man called Heidegger, head of the Public Safety Department, said.

"Stop that stupid horselaugh." Scarlet, a blonde woman in a rather revealing red dress, snapped at Heidegger before turning back to Reno. "Has there been any indication that some sort of device has been used?" As head of the Weapons Development it was something she would be interested in.

Reno simply shrugged. "Not that we noticed. Besides, the kids didn't even know where they were."

"I don't think some sort of device is involved Scarlet." Rufus interjected. "I've questioned the two for some time after they were brought here, and I believe them to be from another world altogether."

The eyes of the table's occupants grew wide in interest. A balding and fat little man, Palmer, started to bounce up and down excitedly. "Does that mean you will fund a new project for my department?" He said eagerly, hoping that the Space Exploration Department would finally get to do something big again.

"If necessary, yes, but I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. These two children seem to have arrived here through some sort of rift. If we can find out what caused that rift we might be able to create one for ourselves." Rufus said, ignoring the disappointed look on the Palmer's face.

"You believe there may be Mako found on this world?" Tseng, head of the Turks, surmised.

"I'm not sure yet." Rufus conceded. "The two don't seem to know anything about it, despite that fact that the boy claims to be the brother of one of the most powerful men in his world. At the very least I think it's worth investigating."

"I, for one, am very interested in these two." A man with long, black, greasy hair tried back into a ponytail said.

"Do you think you can find out more about this world through them Hojo?" Rufus inquired the head of the Science Department.

"I don't know until I've run some tests, but I'm very interesting in what I can find out."

Rufus nodded. "Then by all means proceed, and keep me posted on what you find."

It was this exact comment that caught the attention of the last remaining man present. Reeve had been silent so far. As head of Urban Development he did not see how the recent sudden appearance of two children would be of any relevance to him. But the moment the President gave professor Hojo permission to start experimenting on these children he knew he had to do something.

"Is that even ethical, sir?" He questioned cautiously. "I believe you're saying that they're only children after all."

"Kya ha ha!" Scarlet started laughing. "What's the matter Reeve? Think about all the new projects reaching this world could provide your department."

Reeve shook his head. "I must admit that I'm also curious about this potential world, but I also feel that there are other, less ethically debatable ways to find out more. I simply ask that you consider them."

Reeve's request fell on deaf ears however. As the meeting drew to a close it was decided that Hojo would be in charge of the two youngsters and free to find out what he could whatever the means. Reeve was able to stomach a lot, he was even willing to turn a blind eye to some of Shinra's less commendable actions, but the thought of two young frightened children in Hojo's clutches made him feel sick.

As he was walking down the hallways of Shinra HQ he made up his mind. He couldn't let this happen. It was time he took matters into his own hand, and he knew just the thing that could help him out.

"It seems I have found another use for you old friend." He murmured to himself.

0o0o0

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream." Tristan was singing in a bored voice. "Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, but this is too weird to be a dream." It was greatly annoying the other two occupants of the Tiny Bronco, but Tristan just couldn't help himself. He was on a plane, sailing across a sea in an unknown world. "I'm on a plane, I'm on a plane, everybody look at me 'cause I'm sailing on a plane." There was nothing he could do but stare at the distant horizon, hoping land would come in sight soon. "Propeller keep on turning,  
Tiny Bronco keep on sailing. Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river." So instead he had found another way to amuse himself by singing songs, and inventing his own lines to fit the situation.

"Would you shut up Tristan?" Tea snapped at him. "I'm going crazy. What is it with guys and having absolutely no ability just to sit still for a while?"

Vincent, who'd been piloting their floating plane suddenly looked at her wearily, making her instantly regret her words.

"I…uh…I-I" She stuttered, but Vincent interrupted her.

"I agree." He said simply.

Tea blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I agree." Vincent repeated. "His singing is very distracting. I'd never thought I had to go through this as punishment for my sins."

"Sins?" Tristan suddenly piped up.

"It's none of your concern." Vincent stated calmly. "My sins are my own be punished for."

"Well you kinda creep me out when you talk about sins like that." Tristan said. "It's like you've committed a terrible crime."

Vincent remained silent at the remark. He did consider what had happened in his past a terrible crime, for he had been unable to stop it. The Jenova Project, Lucretia's involvement… everything. His sins could never be forgiven, but these people, strangers to this world even, would never understand.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad." Tea said, albeit a bit nervously. "You may be a bit creepy, but so far you've done nothing but help us out. I'n su-"

"Do not speak about something you do not know anything about." Vincent interrupted her, making Tea cringe a bit. "I do not wish to speak of it further. Besides, you'd better get ready, were almost there."

And sure enough land was coming in sight. Even though Tea and Tristan were still curious about what the mysterious man meant when he was talking about sins, they decided to drop the matter for now, lest they might just find out what kind of sins the man had actually committed.

0o0o0

**A/N:** And there you have it!

Silly Sephy, thinking Bakura to be a leftover clone. Thanks to my brother Bakura reminded me of a scene in _Finding Nemo_. You know, with the seagulls… "Mine!"  
Score one for team Joey! I actually remembered that Red's father was also called Seto when I had already started this chapter. I just had to use it.  
The board meeting was easier than I thought. Though I feel like I don't know Rufus enough to successfully predict his actions. Can you guess who Reeve's 'old friend' is?  
I actually liked this scene with Vincent, Tristan and Tea. At least I think Tristan singing those songs is funny…

That's it for this chapter! People will continue to move some more. Sephy may get a body. Cloud relives another thing from the past. Joey gets owned by a chicken. Hojo needs to explain for his lack of being dead, and Tristan's vocabulary will be expanded. Until next week! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Welcome to chapter 4!

Had a nice Christmas? I did. Now I can finally play my new games! Playing those does go out of my writing time though... It's a good thing I'm on a two-week Christmas break from work.

In this chapter Bakura discovers his hidden reanimation skills, Yugi wins an award while Cloud experiences a sense of déjà vu, Joey needs a tranquilizer, Hojo shows how much he cares for children, and Vincent goes trigger happy again.

All hail the FF7 and YGO wikia for being a great source of information!

Happy reading! And reviews, ideas, suggestions, etc. are always appreciated!

0o0o0

Bakura was grumbling as he was walking through the caves of the North Crater. Working together with Marik Ishtar had been unconventional, and had ultimately failed in the end, but at least he had known what he had been dealing with back then. Right now he wasn't so sure. Sephiroth had set him out to search for Jenova's remains lying somewhere around this place. With it and combining it with Bakura's Shadow Magic they could potentially give Sephiroth a new body. The idea sounded all right, but since Bakura was dealing with forces he didn't know he was cautious about the whole matter. Despite working towards a similar goal he had no way of knowing he could trust the strange being inside the glowing green river. For all he knew it was leading him into a sense of security only to turn around and stab him in the back once it had gained what it wanted. The way Sephiroth had been rambling about Mother, having a strange look in his eyes whenever he mentioned her, made Bakura suspicious of his motives. But all he could do right now was being cautious. In the end he was the one in a strange world with no way of knowing where the Pharaoh and his annoying friends were. Sephiroth might be his only hope in achieving his own goals. He just had to go along with its, his, which one was it anyway, wishes.

Bakura grumbled some more as he continued to walk aimlessly, actually having no idea what he was searching for. Sephiroth hadn't been very specific, except for the fact that there might not be much left of Jenova. All the 'mights' and 'potentiallies' annoying him even further. He eventually reached what seemed to be the heart of the cavern. The dark blue sky stretched out high above him, offering him what little light it provided. He scowled at the walls of the crater, noticing it would be extremely difficult to get out on his own. Getting help from Sephiroth seemed to be the more favourable option after all.

Sighing to himself in resignation he looked around more intently. He looked for anything out of the ordinary, hoping it would give him a clue as to where Jenova's remains could be. Suddenly his Millennium Ring started to act up again. Bakura frowned, at first thinking that the Pharaoh might be closer than he thought, but he then noticed that it was pointing towards a big pile of rubble. He walked over to the pile and started to move away some of the rocks, wondering what had set the ancient item off. After a while he noticed there was something different among the pile of rocks. Blue-grey skin, long silver hair, and seemingly glowing eyes that looked as if they were staring right through him as if the person was still alive. Despite his own not so innocent past and disposition, he couldn't help but being a little bit unnerved as he stared at the head. At least he was sure that he had found what he was looking for. He quickly took the head and went back to where he had fallen into the Lifestream. His thoughts quickly ran over his decision, before he slid back into the glowing green river.

"Mother!" Sephiroth immediately called out.

He reached out to take the head from Bakura, but the tomb robber wasn't going to let him. With a bit of Shadow Magic he repelled Sephiroth's attempt.

"Don't get too greedy momma's boy." Bakura warned him. "I still don't fully trust you so this is going to happen on my terms."

Sephiroth glared back at him, but refrained from taking any further action. He apparently wasn't strong enough yet to withstand the other's otherworldly magic, but that would change as soon as he could merge with Jenova's remains. So for now he made no further move to take it from Bakura.

"Good, now that we have established that, how is this going to work?" Bakura said as soon as he was sure Sephiroth wasn't going to try anything.

"I will need to merge my will with Mother's remains to be able to form myself a new body." Sephiroth explained. "But you will need to supply me with additional magic to make it work as I am not strong enough yet to perform the task fully on my own."

Bakura nodded. It sounded easy enough and with minimal risk to himself and his host. "Proceed then." He said as he threw Jenova's head to Sephiroth, who caught it eagerly.

He wasted no time in pressing the head close to him, allowing his will to merge with it. The head changed, expanding to a full body and changing its features into Sephiroth's own. Bukura carefully aided him with his Shadow Magic, taking great care to only give him as much as he needed lest he absorb the excess magic and grow too strong. After a few minutes it was over. The full body of Sephiroth was floating in front of Bakura, but there was one big difference. This one was holding an impossibly long knife. It was even bigger than the man himself, which was saying something, since he wasn't short to begin with.

Bakura started to wonder whether he had done the right thing.

0o0o0

"Tifa, is Barret in? He needs to hear this too." Cloud started.

Tifa didn't miss the seriousness in Clouds tone, which made her quite worried about what this was about. "He's at the back with Marlene. I'll go get him."

"Don't be alarmed when Barret comes in." Cloud said after Tifa had left. Yugi simply raised an eyebrow at him, expecting additional explanation. "Barret can be quite gruff and intimidating, but he's a good guy at heart."

No further explanation was needed as a bulky dark-skinned man walked into the room. What was most intimidating about him however, was that his right hand had been replaced with a gun-arm. Yugi instantly hoped that the man knew what he was doing and that he wasn't going to be shot down accidently. Barret took a quick look around the room, quickly noticing Yugi sitting next to Cloud.

"Well Spikey, it seems I need to find a new nickname for you." He grinned before continuing. "That guy certainly wins the spikiest-hair-of-the-year award."

Tifa, who had been walking behind the large man and was now back at her spot behind the bar, couldn't keep in the giggles. Even Yugi cracked a smile, but Cloud wasn't that amused.

"We don't have time for this Barret." Cloud said seriously. "We've got trouble."

Both Tifa and Barret instantly turned serious, and Yugi's smile also faded from his face. "What kind of trouble?" Barret asked.

"The Sephiroth kind."

This certainly got the attention of the other two. They briefly shot a glance at Yugi, hoping that his mere presence would explain everything. They turned back to Cloud once he started explaining what Aeris had told him. The mood in the room only turned graver the more Cloud told them.

Tifa sighed once when Cloud was finished. "So it seems we've got another battle to fight." The then turned to Yugi. "And now even strangers are involved."

Yugi shook his head. "I'm no stranger to saving the world. It's what I do all the time in my world." He smiled and nodded reassuringly. "I just hope that I can be of some help to you."

"Sephiroth is not a foe to be underestimated." Barret grumbled. "And you don't look the type to know how to fight."

"Well there must be some way that I can." Yugi countered. "In any case there must be a reason why my friends and I were taken to this world, so there must be a way that we can help. We just have to find it."

Before any of the other people in the room could reply, the front door burst open to reveal something that really made Yugi frown this time. It was a big white stuffed animal with a black cat sitting on top of its head.

"Cait Sith, what are you doing here?" Tifa wondered out loud as she approached the weird newcomer.

The stuffed animal started to happily bounce up and down. "Oh Tifa! I'm so glad you're here. And Cloud and Barret too. This is perfect. I need your help guys." The cat told them.

"And why would we help you out Shinra spy?" Barret said suspiciously, not entirely trusting the robot.

Cait Sith shook its head. "It's not Shinra you'll be helping, but two children. Reno and Rude brought them in after they had supposedly popped up out of thin air in Junon. Now the President has given permission to start experimenting on them to find out where they come from and how they got here."

"Two children popped up out of thin air?" Yugi said, making his way to stand in front of the stuffed animal. "What do they look like?"

Cait Sith regarded the small spikey-haired teen before it. "And why do you want to know?"

"He also popped up out of thin air Cait Sith." Cloud intervened. "These children might be from the same world he's from."

Cait Sith nodded. "I see something big is going on." It started to bounce in place in excitement. "Well, I haven't seen them myself, but I've been told that there's a black-haired boy and a brown-haired girl."

"Mokuba and Serenity." Yugi gasped, but before he could say more he felt himself being pulled back into the puzzle so Yami could come out.

"You will tell us where I can find these children." He said ominously.

"Woah! What in the name of Gaia just happened?" Barret asked with wide eyes, turning to Cloud for an explanation.

Cloud sighed. "From what I understand two spirits share the same body Barret. You simply just witnessed the other spirit taking over."

"I'm surprised you even noticed Barret." Yami said. "Most people don't."

"People don't notice? Seriously, your voice sounds like your balls dropped in the last few seconds, you're bigger, you look older and your bangs suddenly spike upwards, and you're telling me people don't notice?" Barret said incredulously.

"That doesn't matter right now." Yami said annoyed and turned back to Cait Sith. "I've got reason to believe these children are the siblings of my friends. From what I gather they are in danger, and I must go and help them. Now, tell me where I can find these children."

"Incredible." Cait Sith muttered. "It seems like something a lot bigger is going on, but you're right, these children should be our first priority right now. They're at the Shinra HQ."

Cloud sighed again, a strong sense of déjà vu coming over him for the second time that day. Without wasting any more time the five of them prepared to leave the bar and infiltrate Shinra.

0o0o0

Seto, Joey and Red XIII briskly travelled through the barren landscape due north of Cosmo Canyon, with Red XIII leading the way. They were silent for the most part. Seto felt no inclination to talk to either of the two, and Red XIII was focussed on something the other two didn't know. This left Joey with no one to really talk to, so he also remained silent. The fact that he was struggling to keep up with the other two wasn't really helping either. This way the journey through the canyon started off uneventful at first, but that was soon about to change. The reason why Red XIII was constantly alert for something soon revealed itself when several colourful bird-like creatures jumped from behind a rock to stand in their way. Seto wanted to disregard them and move on, but Red XIII jumped in front of him to stop him in his tracks.

"Skeeskee." Red XIII growled.

"Who wants to go skiing?" Joey, who hadn't really noticed the threat yet, asked.

"Not skiing. Skeeskee. It's what those birds are called." Red XIII replied without taking his mind off the Skeeskee in front of him.

"They don't look like a threat. Can't we just move along?" Seto grumbled.

"Unless you want to be introduced by their beaks I don't recommend it." Red XIII replied.

Joey then took the time to really regard the creatures, before a grin spread over his face. "Nah, Kaiba's right. These guys don't look so tough. But they are in our way, so I guess it's time to give them a little scare to chase them away."

Disregarding Red XIII's urging to step back, Joey walked up to the small group of birds. He activated his duel disk and took the top card from his desk, grinning when he saw that it was a monster card.

"All right then, I summon my good old buddy the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" He yelled while placing the card on his duel disk.

But nothing happened.

"Uhm…Red-Eyes?" Joey stuttered, vainly attempting to try and summon his monster.

Meanwhile the Skeeskee started to advance on the blonde teen. Joey suddenly started to feel very nervous when one of them flapped his wings to gain some altitude and suddenly sped towards him. He didn't have any time to react before the impact. With a scream Joey fell backwards. In a flash Red XIII sped past him, surprising the Skeeskee and forcing their attention away from Joey to focus on this new threat. With a few well-aimed attacks, Red XIII managed to kill one Skeeskee, injure another, and chase the remaining ones away. Once he was sure they were gone he turned back to the other two.

"What in the world did you think you were doing Wheeler?" Seto demanded to know, crossing his arms in annoyance.

But Joey didn't respond. He still frantically tried to summon monsters. "Flame Swordsman! Rocket Warrior!" But none responded. "All right then! I use Foolish Burial to send one monster from my deck to my graveyard and then use Monster Reborn to bring it back! Come on up Gilford the Lightning!" But still no monster appeared.

"I knew you were a third-rate duellist, but this is ridiculous even for you mutt. Never mind though. You are not my concern right now." Seto grumbled before turning to walk away.

"It's not his fault." Red XIII intervened, making Seto stop in his tracks to regard him like he had just made the most badly misconceived statement of the century. Red XIII simply shook his head and continued. "Though I agree it was foolish of him to think he could fight those monsters with a few cards, the fact that he's frantically trying to vainly 'summon' those cards means that the Skeeskee's Rage Bomber has been successful in afflicting fury."

"Charming." Seto said dryly. "Now I hope you have some way to fix it. It's bad enough that I have to be stuck with him when he's acting normal, let alone when he's like this."

Red XIII nodded and reached into the pack he had been carrying along the way. He took out a small bottle labelled 'tranquillizer' and walked over to stand in front of Joey, who still tried to summon monsters in any way possible.

"Drink this Joey." He said as he attempted to hand the bottle to the furious teen.

But Joey slapped the bottle away. "I need to fight those chickens!" He yelled as he continued with what he was attempting to do.

"They rather looked like penguins to me." Seto noted dryly, earning him a glare from both of the other two.

Red XIII quickly turned back to Joey however. "This will help you fight them Joey. Just drink it and you'll see." He urged.

Joey paused and blinked at the bottle. He finally took it and drank its contents in one gulp. Immediately the haze in his eyes cleared and he relaxed. Red XIII felt relieved that it worked. Realizing what had happened Joey felt a surge of shame wash over him. He'd acted like an idiot. In front of his greatest rival no less. He demurely gathered the cards that had been strewn around him an stood back up.

"Let's continue then." He said calmly, though his voice and stance did betray his feelings.

0o0o0

Mokuba guessed they had been in the room for about two hours before a man with long, greasy black hair, tied in a low ponytail, wearing glasses on the tip of his nose and a long white lab coat came to get them. The man scared the creeps out of him and Serenity. The girl had finally calmed down a while ago after Mokuba had continuously reassured her that both their brothers would come to get them, but after spotting this man, and feeling the creepy aura he had around him as he scrutinized them intently, she had again been reduced to a shivering heap of fear.

"So you are the ones those Turks brought in." He said in his high-pitched voice, only enhancing his creepiness.

"What do you want mister?" Mokuba replied, not trusting this man one bit.

Hojo laughed, or rather cackled, in amusement. "Hmm, I see you'll make a fine specimen young man. Of the girl I'm not too sure, but that won't matter as long as you'll last."

Mokuba instinctively held Serenity closer to him, not liking one bit what the man implied. "What do you mean?"

Hojo shuffled closer, towering over the cowering youngsters despite his hunched over pose. "What I mean is that the President has given me permission to find out as much about you as I can, using whatever means necessary."

"But we already told him everything we know." Serenity piped up. "Please, we just want to go home."

"Ah, now if I can find out where your home is, and how to get there, you might have your wish girl. And if you'll simply cooperate, then the chances of it happening rise by 5 to 10 percent."

"What are you going to do to us? We don't know anything more than we've already told the President." Mokuba said.

Hojo cackled again. "That simply means I'll have to find another way to extract the information I need, and it's high-time that we get started."

Hojo then turned around to walk back to the door. For a moment the two children thought he was going to leave them alone for now despite what he had just said. But their thoughts soon turned out to be false when Hojo returned with two guards and ordered them to take the two down to his lab.

Mokuba started to kick and scream in an attempt to get free, but the guard was too big and too strong and had little trouble in containing the child. Serenity started to cry again and also struggled, but was even less successful than Mokuba. In the end they couldn't prevent the two men to carry them away from the room and towards Hojo's lab.

Rufus watched them being taken emotionlessly. The children were scared, which to him was a good thing. If Hojo exploited that fact he could ensure their cooperation. He was eager to find out where these two came from and how to get there. Even if there was no Mako on that world, he could find something else to do with it. Perhaps this world had another source of energy that he could exploit, or he could offer Mako energy to that world. It all came down to the same thing in the end. He would strengthen his position and make even more profit.

He would gain more power.

"Are you sure Hojo should be allowed to do this unsupervised, sir?" Reno, who was standing next to him wondered.

"What's the matter Reno. Didn't you bring them here to find out more about their world?" Rufus said with an amused tone in his voice. "You don't sound very much like a Turk right now."

Reno scoffed at the remark. "I brought them in because you would have kicked my ass otherwise when you found out." He sighed and shook his head, turning more serious. "And I too am interested in this world, but I'd hate to see two young children be hurt. To be honest sir, I don't trust Hojo after everything he's done."

Rufus nodded. "I understand what you mean Reno, but rest assured that I will not allow Hojo to randomly experiment on these two children. Especially if it will jeopardize our new mission. But if it'll make you feel better, feel free to observe Hojo's proceedings, and report to me if anything comes up."

Satisfied with the reply, Reno nodded and saluted before heading off in the direction of Hojo's lab. Rufus watched him go. He really didn't care what would happen to the children as long as they would lead them to their world. He also trusted Hojo as far as he could throw him, but knew that if someone was able to find something it would be him. In the end he was glad that Reno was concerned about these strangers. It saved him a lot of trouble in trying to find someone trustworthy to report to him. Reno was one of the few he did trust, and he knew that the chances of finding this new world grew exponentially with him on the job.

0o0o0

Land had never seemed more appealing to Vincent. It was just such a shame that he had to follow the coast for a while before reaching Rocket Town.

The intrigue he had felt when he had seen these two appear had somewhat faded by now. Sure, he was still curious as to why they were here, but he was getting quite annoyed with the way they were acting. It was like they knew how the world should be, and when it didn't meet their standards it was just weird. Tristan was particularly annoying that way. At least Tea seemed to be a lot more sensible, but her all for one and one for all mentality had managed to strike a deeper cord in Vincent, and he didn't like it. His sins were his own, and he didn't like it that they were so nosey about it. Luckily the sighting of land had shut them up for now, and after they would finally reached their destination Rocket Town would only be a small distance from the shore, where he could leave these two in the capable hands of Cid.

The silence also gave Vincent the opportunity to think. His thoughts turned back to the Jumping he'd killed in the Sleeping Forest. It was such a long way from home, and he silently wondered whether the appearance of these people had something to do with it. As soon as he had dropped them off, Vincent intended to investigate the matter. But before he could even start planning further, his thoughts were interrupted by Tea's voice.

"So, how far is this place you're taking us?" She asked a bit nervously, their recent conversation about Vincent's sins still fresh in her mind.

"We just have to follow the coast for a few more minutes." Vincent responded.

"Well I'll be glad to get off of this tub." Tristan said.

"Will you stop complaining about that Tristan?" Tea huffed as she crossed her arms. "It gets us from A to B, right? So why complain about it? What did you expect? A super deluxe cruise ship?"

This effectively shut Tristan up. Instead he just huffed and crossed his arms like a little kid who wasn't allowed some ice cream.

"Oh, way to go with acting mature Tristan." Tea scoffed.

"You sound like a married couple." Vincent piped up, causing both teens to stare at him in disbelief. He just shrugged. "The way you are arguing makes you sound as if you're married." He elaborated.

Tea's face rapidly became a very nice shade of red, but whether it was because she was blushing furiously or became very angry was unclear. "Well, he started it!" She accused.

"Now who's being immature?" Tristan grinned.

Vincent sighed as the two continued to bicker back and forth. He had hoped his suggestion would make them stop, but apparently it had only added more heat to the fire. Luckily the beach where he would land the Tiny Bronco soon came in sight, meaning that his torment would soon be over. He beached the floating plane and hopped off, surprised that the two had even noticed and also climbed down. Tristan tried to be a mature gentleman by offering Tea his help to get off, but Tea stubbornly refused. Tea should have accepted the gesture, because when she tried to get down off the plane's wing she fell down, using Tristan to break her landing. This caused a string of rather colourful words to erupt from the young man's mouth, which he was instantly berated for by Tea. Long story short, Vincent was not amused.

Eventually the two's bickering died down when they finally decided never to talk to one another again. Vincent was glad for the reprieve. But his peace was soon interrupted again by the appearance of a few monsters. Vincent frowned. They were Nibel Wolves. These creatures usually resided near Mount Nibel to the south. Though it wasn't entirely unusual for them to venture to this area, they usually stayed clear of it. The incident with the Jumping instantly came back to mind. It might mean nothing, but Vincent made sure to make a mental note of it anyway.

Tea and Tristan hadn't even noticed the threat until they suddenly heard a few gunshots. They flinched and looked up to see the wolves lying dead on the ground, and Vincent's gun still smoking.

Tea instantly became angry again. "What is it with you and killing animals?" She said accusingly.

"Again these animals would have attacked, injured, and most likely killed us if I hadn't killed them."

"You have to admit Tea, at least it wasn't a bunny this time, but wolves." Tristan piped up, earning him a glare for his efforts.

"Still not talking to you!" She said and turned around.

Vincent didn't have the patience to wait much longer, so he put his gun away and proceeded to Rocket Town. The sooner he could drop them off at Cid's the better.

0o0o0

**A/N:** Things that I promised and didn't happen in this chapter yet: Hojo explaining his lack of being dead, and Tristan expanding his vocabulary… Oh, and Joey didn't get owned by a chicken, but rather by a penguin. If Tea had been there I could have made a reference to her duel with Crump. Well…can't have everything I suppose…

Sephy has a body! Now what will he and Kura do?

I think it's going to be both hard and fun to write about the Shinra HQ infiltration by Cloud and co. Luckily you actually get to do that in the game. Hmm…stairs or elevators?

I've had the scene with Joey in my head since the beginning. It was funny to incorporate the Fury status with it. Now on to Nibelheim!

Mokuba and Serenity are in deep trouble. Will Cloud and co. be on time to help them?

The final scene was totally unplanned and very hard to write. I hope it was satisfactory.

Until next week! :D


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Welcome to chapter 5!

I like honest reviews, even if they contain something negative, as long as they are aren't condescending. In response to one such review I apologize for any OOC-ness in this chapter in advance. This fic is an attempt at a humoristic story, so I try to squeeze in jokes and funny situations. However, these jokes and funny situations are by no means intended to make our beloved bad guys seem like fools. If any of you feel that I'm going overboard then by all means tell me. Specific examples and perhaps even suggestions on how to improve it are very much appreciated and will always be considered at the very least. Despite the jokes, Kura and Sephy are supposed to be intelligent villains who'll cause some mayhem throughout the story, starting with this chapter. This also counts for any of the other characters.

I hope you'll all continue to enjoy this fic.

As for this chapter, Bakura and Sephiroth start planning, Yugi is glad he isn't in control of his body, Seto discovers his hidden magic powers, Hojo gets excited, and Vincent experiences an epic fail moment.

Happy reading! And reviews, ideas, suggestions, etc. are always appreciated!

0o0o0

Bakura watched the man in front of him, a bit awed by his appearance. His tall frame, clad in leather, with his silver hair seemingly shining in what little light was present didn't fail to impress. In many ways he looked every bit a powerful warrior, but Bakura couldn't help but raise a question laying heavily on his mind.

"You've got something to compensate for?" He asked.

Sephiroth, who had still been revelling in the feeling of having a body again, looked up. "What do you mean?"

Bakura sceptically eyed the impossibly long sword in Sephiroth's hands. Sephiroth followed his gaze and reverently raised the blade. He took a few swipes to gain back its feel. Bakura flinched and stepped back, unwilling to be skewered or sliced to bits. But Sephiroth soon smiled a small smile as he wielded it effortlessly and accurately.

"I can assure you Masamune is by no means a compensation for anything." Sephiroth said calmly, taking a few more swipes. "It is a very powerful sword that only I can wield." He cleanly sliced through a couple of rocks as if to demonstrate its power, before stopping the blade less than an inch from Bakura's neck. "Insulting it means insulting me, and I would advise you to forego doing that."

Bakura was sweating a little bit, but managed to nod anyway, causing Sephiroth to smirk. But instead of withdrawing the blade he continued. "And besides, look who's talking." He said, his eyes flickering to the Millennium Ring around Bakura's neck for a second. "Isn't that pendant of yours highly unpractical to wear around your neck?"

"Touché." Bakura murmured, feeling relieved when Sephiroth finally withdrew the blade.

"Well then, now that we've got that settled, it's high time for us to discuss how we will proceed." Sephiroth said businesslike.

Bakura nodded, glad that he was finally getting somewhere. "My suggestion is to find a way out of here first."

Sephiroth shook his head. "That won't be necessary. Our adversaries will come to us."

Bakura crossed his arms. "And how can you be so sure about that?"

"My adversary will know." Sephiroth said mysteriously. "And besides, this place is the only place where Mako is so abundant that it could provide a way back to your world."

Bakura was quite sceptical about Sephiroth's claim. He certainly was not looking forward to waiting here in this cavern if something has a chance of not happening. He had the Millennium Ring and it could guide him to the Pharaoh so he could get what he needed.

"How can you be so sure?" He said sceptically.

Sephiroth regarded him with such a stoic expression that it actually managed to chill him to the core. "My will has been a part of the Lifestream for long enough to know how the Planet works."

The firmness in Sephiroth's voice made Bakura unable to protest further. He sighed instead in defeat. "All right then, so what will we do in the mean time? Knit socks?"

Sephiroth disregarded the last comment as he replied. "We must prepare ourselves. I have not yet reached my full power, but together we will stand a chance." He took another good look at Bakura, his eyes resting on the duel disk on his arm. "Now tell me, how does that thing around your wrist work?"

Bakura looked at his duel disk with a frown, wondering why the silver-haired man wanted to know, but answered the question anyway. "It's a duel disk. It's used to play Duel Monsters." He started to explain.

He then proceeded by explaining how the duel disk worked, making Sephiroth's forehead crease into a rare frown the more he said. "Wait!" He suddenly stopped the white-haired duellist. "Are you trying to tell me it's not a weapon, but a way to make a card game more life-like?"

Bakura shrugged. "That's basically it, though the game was fashioned after the thousands-years-old Shadow Games, in which a lot of dark magic was involved."

Sephiroth clenched his teeth in rage and slashed with his sword, only missing giving Bakura a haircut by a hair. "You fool!" He bellowed. "You've got dark magic, but you fight your adversary by playing a card game?"

Bakura also became angry at that and clenched his fists. "If you're not careful I will use that dark magic of mine to send you on an extended holiday to the Shadow Realm. Duel Monsters is more than just a card game."

"Never mind." Sephiroth growled. "Let's just focus on that magic of yours and how we can combine it with my power."

"Fine!" Bakura huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance again. "So how are we going to fix that mister know-it-all?"

"Let's see how your magic stands against mine."

Before Bakura could ask what he meant he saw him produce a glowing green orb from his pocket followed by a wave of fire coming his way. As a reflex Bakura activated his Shadow Magic to block the attack, something in which he was surprisingly successful. As a matter of fact, his Millennium Ring completely absorbed the attack.

"What was that for?" Bakura growled.

Sephiroth just regarded him with intrigue. "Interesting. It seems your item is very compatible with Materia. Perhaps we can use this to our advantage." He mused, completely disregarding Bakura's question.

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Bakura yelled. "You could have seriously injured me!"

"It was only a weak attack. It wouldn't have harmed you. At least not permanently." Sephiroth simply said, waving off the other's concern like it was nothing.

It only served to make Bakura even more angry, but Sephiroth wasn't really paying attention to that. A very interesting idea started to form in his head. He smirked. If this worked they could solve each other's problems for them. He just had to make sure that it really worked.

0o0o0

Four people and a remote controlled robot stood in front of the huge building at the very centre of Midgar. Cait Sith had managed to get the others here without much problem. Yami, who was still in control of Yugi's body, had watched with amazement at how coordinated the other four moved together. If it wasn't for the fact that they were on a rescue mission for Mokuba and Serenity, he would have felt really out of place.

"Is this where Mokuba and Serenity are being held?" Yami inquired.

Cait Sith nodded solemnly. "Yes. They should be up on the 67th floor. You can't reach it without a key card, but I've got one right here."

Barret grinned. "All right then, let's go." He said, and made to barge right in.

"Wait Barret!" Tifa stopped him. "Even though we've got a key card, won't it look incredibly suspicious if the five of us just walk right in?"

"Tifa is right Barret." Cloud said as he made his way towards the side of the building where the staircase would be. "We'd better sneak in like we did last time and then try to get to the 67th floor unnoticed."

Barret groaned. "I'm not taking the stairs this time!" He huffed as he crossed his arms. "Seriously, my legs are still recovering from climbing all the way up to the 59th floor. I'm either seriously going to kick some Shinra butt this time or I'm not going at all."

"Oh you stubborn oaf!" Tifa grumbled. "I know climbing those stairs is a pain, but it'll minimize the risk of getting caught."

But Barret didn't listen to her. He turned his back to her, his mind made up. He absolutely, totally and completely wasn't going to climb those damned stairs. Tifa sighed in defeat, while Cloud smacked his forehead.

"Wait guys, perhaps we can work this out." Cait Sith interjected, causing everyone to turn to him again. "While I'll take our two spikey-heads up through the stairway, Barret and Tifa can create a diversion in the lobby. That way we'll have a bigger chance of reaching the labs undetected."

Yami had stayed out of the conversation. It seemed that these people had done this before, so it was better to have them make the plan. As long as he could get to Mokuba and Serenity and get them out safely he would follow with whatever plan they made up. He quietly observed the others. The grin on Barret's face told him that he really liked the idea, while Tifa's frown showed that she was more worried.

Cloud simply gave a nod of approval, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to stop the large man now anyway. "All right then. We'll go with that plan. Now I think it's best for you to wait until we're in position. I'll use my PHS to let you know."

Everyone nodded and the group was finally ready to start their mission. Tifa and Barret retreated a bit to stay out of sight until they could go in, while Cloud, Cait Sith and Yami walked to the stairway and started climbing. For Cloud, whose body was enhanced by Mako, and Cait Sith, who was a robot to begin with, the climb wasn't that difficult, and they held up quite a brisk pace. But for Yami, it was hell. Soon he felt his legs become tired, and they threatened to buckle underneath him. He wasn't able to keep up. He now understood why Barret had been so adamant in refusing to climb these stairs. He was soon clutching the railing, dragging his tired legs up the many steps.

"_Come on Yami, you can do it." _Yugi encouraged him.

Yami just growled at his partner. _"If you want you can come out and do this."_

"_I think I'll pass, thank you."_

"_Then stop distracting me."_ Yami snapped, his exhaustion making him moody.

Yugi stopped bothering his darker half and Yami continued to climb the stairs. Occasionally Cait Sith and Cloud would stop to allow him to catch up, but in the end he had to keep on climbing by himself. It was killing.

After what seemed like hours they finally reached the 59th floor, where these stairs stopped. Cloud took out his PHS and phoned Barret to let them know they were in position. After that they waited for a short while to give the two time to cause a ruckus. Yami gratefully took this time to catch his breath again and soothe his aching muscles, which was pretty much a waste of time. His legs were so sore he doubted they were even attached to his hips. And judging from his surprising lack of presence, Yugi wasn't going to take over from him any time soon. So to Yami it was all too soon when they all snuck out the door and began their sneaky decent to the 67th floor.

0o0o0

The journey to Nibelheim proceeded without any more incidents. Any monsters that showed up afterwards were easily disposed of by Red XIII. But other than that, the journey was uneventful and silent.

Joey lagged behind the other two, still ashamed over what had happened. In retrospect he wondered what had gotten over him, thinking he could defeat real monsters with duel monsters. Even if the holographic projectors had worked, the holograms wouldn't have been able to cause any harm. In the end it had only given Kaiba something new to use against him. Even if he hadn't so far, Joey was sure this wasn't going to be the last he heard of it.

But nagging Joey wasn't on Seto's mind. He was first and most of all dead set on finding his little brother, but after Joey's fiasco he had also started to wonder as to why the duel disk hadn't functioned like it should. At the very least the holographic images of Joey's monsters should have worked, and the fact that they didn't puzzled him. If only he'd had his laptop with him, then he could have given the system a full read-out. But he hadn't, and besides, he wouldn't have the time to do so until he'd found Mokuba.

Both Joey and Seto were snapped out of their brooding when Red XIII finally announced that they had arrived. Forgetting their secondary problems, their minds were immediately brought back to their siblings. Joey rushed to town, closely followed by Seto and Red XIII.

Joey called his sister's name, as if fully expecting to see his little sister waiting for him there. But she wasn't in sight. He saw a few people who were looking at him strangely, and walked up to them to ask about his sister. People just shook their heads. Seto and Red XIII followed Joey's example by going through town and asking around, but they too came up empty handed. They eventually met back at the water tower in the centre of Nibelheim.

"She isn't here." Joey said demurely.

"And neither is Mokuba, so I suggest we move along." Seto concluded stoically.

"I'd hoped to find your siblings here." Red XIII confessed with a sigh.

"What do you mean Red?" Joey asked, slightly impatient to move along.

"We need to travel through Mount Nibel to get to Rocket Town." Red XIII explained. "Once there a friend of mine can help you get to Junon and search for your siblings there. But the mountains are treacherous and full of powerful monsters. It won't be an easy journey."

"The sooner we leave the better." Seto remarked. "Knowing this I must ensure my brother's safety."

"And I my sister's, so lead the way Red." Joey added.

Red XIII nodded and the three of them headed to the back to town and to the looming mountains beyond. The way proved to be a bit more difficult than their journey from Cosmo Canyon to Nibelheim. The winding paths and steep cliffs called for careful treading. Red XIII was able to handle the monsters just fine, though he wondered why they weren't encountering that many. These mountains were usually teeming with them, but now it almost seemed deserted. It felt strange to him and he made a mental note to investigate once he had dealt with the outsiders.

But for now his biggest concern were the dragons. As they travelled farther and farther into the mountains, crossing the wooden bridge and nearing the reactor, they also came closer to dragon territory. Of all the monsters dragons were the ones Red XIII feared the most. They were very powerful, and even though he could handle them, it would be difficult to protect Joey and Seto if they encountered one on these narrow mountain roads, or within the confines of the caves they needed to go through.

And it seemed that luck ran out on them. They were going through the cave with the Mako Spring, when a large green body was blocking their way.

Red XIII immediately tensed up. "Joey, Kaiba back off!" He barked and growled at the dragon.

"Is that an actual dragon?" Joey asked in awe.

Seto shrugged, unimpressed by the monster before them. "My Blue-Eyes is bigger." He said dryly.

Joey snapped out of his amazement. "Yeah, I bet even my Red-Eyes could take him if I could summon him." He boasted.

Red XIII growled even deeper, annoyed by the others' offhanded attitude, but he didn't dare turn around to tell them off. He needed to keep an eye on the dragon so he could plan his move. Instead he just told them to back off again.

Seto huffed and stepped closer to the Mako Spring. "Usually in situations like this in my hallucinations, this is the part where I dramatically find out I've got magic powers."

As if on cue the top card of his deck suddenly started to glow. Startled, Seto took it out of his duel disk and looked at the glowing card of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"You've got to be kidding me." Seto grumbled.

"Kaiba, look out!" He suddenly heard Joey yell.

Seto quickly looked up to see the dragon rear up in front of him, taking a huge breath as it prepared to unleash its flamethrower attack. Seto managed to jump away in the nick of time, but dropped his precious card in the Mako Spring in the process.

"Oh no! My Blue-Eyes!"

The card glowed again and the solid form of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon rose up from the card. The dragon focussed his attention on the new threat while Red XIII, Joey and Seto were stunned in amazement.

"It's true, Kaiba's Blue-Eyes really is bigger." Joey mumbled in awe.

As a reflex Seto ordered his dragon to attack. The blast took the native dragon out with ease. Seto's dragon roared victoriously one last time before it disappeared again. It was over before anyone could realize what had happened. The long silence that fell afterwards was proof of that.

Eventually Seto moved to recover his card. He looked at it. It was still glowing, but not as much as before.

"What did just happen?" Joey wondered out loud, still a bit dazed.

"I guess I've found my magic powers like predicted." Seto mumbled, still gazing at his card.

"We can think about that later." Red XIII intervened. "For now we'd better get out of here before another dragon comes."

Joey and Seto nodded and the three of them took off again. They managed to get through Mount Nibel without encountering anymore dragons, which made Red XIII let out a sigh of relief. From here on it would only be a short track across the open planes to Rocket Town. It shouldn't be too difficult, and soon Joey and Seto could resume their search for their siblings.

0o0o0

Hojo was annoyed. Even though he was wasn't interfering, the fact that Hojo knew the red-head was keeping an eye on him from the corner of the lab made him irritable. Reno didn't even try to hide his presence, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed as he silently observed the scientist's proceedings. Like a warden guarding his prisoner, except the prisoners weren't the scared children under Hojo's care, but Hojo himself. And Hojo was no fool to underestimate Reno. Despite the Turk's casual stance, the scientist knew Reno could stop him in the blink of an eye. The fact that he wasn't given free reign over his new specimens annoyed him the most. He didn't like being controlled.

But instead of letting his annoyance deter him he focussed his attention back on the two children. He had bound them to two separate tables. The boy was still struggling to get out of his restraints, occasionally yelling to be let go, while the girl was simply sobbing softly. Hojo was still busy laying out all sorts of equipment he would be using when he was disturbed by a ringing phone. His head snapped towards the sound, seeing Reno calmly take his PHS out of his pocket and move it to his ear. Hojo tried to ignore him, but his thought were once again interrupted when Reno loudly responded to the one on the other end of the phone.

"What do you mean AVALANCHE is attacking the building? AVALANCHE doesn't even exist anymore." He called out.

"I know that Reno." Tseng, who had called Reno, replied. "But that doesn't change the fact that Tifa and Barret are right here causing trouble. Elena and Rude are already on their way, but I need you too."

Reno eyed Hojo suspiciously, unwilling to give up his current post to deal with the two rebels. Something also didn't quite sit right with him. Two children suddenly appeared out of nowhere and now Tifa and Barret are attacking the building? It was just too much of a coincidence to Reno, but he had no choice but to follow his orders.

"I'm on my way." He said and stuffed his PHS back into his pocket. He turned back to Hojo. "Sorry prof, but you'll have to do without my sunny presence for a while. I've got places to be and people to subdue."

Hojo had trouble hiding his forming smirk of satisfaction. "Oh don't mind me. I'll simply occupy myself with these two fine specimens."

Reno's face turned into a scowl, his casual nonchalance fading away. "I'm warning you Hojo." He said threateningly. "No harm had better come to these children, or you'll be the one suffering the consequences."

Hojo snorted in disdain. "I doubt the President will care as long as he gets what he wants, and I intend to give it to him." He looked towards Mokuba and Serenity again. "By whatever means necessary." He added.

Reno wanted to retort, but knew he was simply wasting his time. Tseng would give him an earful if he delayed any longer. He'd best go and see to the situation and come back as soon as possible. And so he left without another word.

Hojo smirked once he'd left, and continued to ready his equipment. He then continued to take two empty syringes and a couple of test tubes. Despite the children's futile struggles and protests he easily took a blood sample of both of them and left in one of his machines for analysis, while he continued with the next phase. He was specifically most eager to find out how their bodies would react to Mako. He grabbed the syringes that held the glowing green liquid. He injected both of them with an equal amount, grabbed his notepad and sat back to observe what would happen.

But nothing happened.

No reaction whatsoever, no indication of anything.

It perplexed the scientist. He quickly drew another blood sample and compared it to the earlier sample.

No difference. No traces of Mako.

But before Hojo had even time to muse over the fascinating findings the door to his lab was smashed open. Cloud led the way inside, closely followed by Cait Sith and Yami.

"You again?" Hojo hissed.

"Hojo?" Cloud asked in bewilderment. "I thought we'd killed you."

Hojo smirked triumphantly. "I still had a Phoenix Down in my pocket. It came in very handy."

While the professor was distracted, Yami took the opportunity to take a look through the room, quickly stopping at the two tables holding two small people down. "Mokuba! Serenity!" He called out.

"Yugi?" Mokuba called out. "Yugi, please help us!"

"Don't worry Mokuba. I'll get you out of here. Serenity too." Yami reassured, and moved towards the two clearly relieved children.

But Hojo wasn't going to let him do that that easily. "No, I won't let you take away my precious specimens!" He screeched.

Hojo lunged for Yami, only to be stopped by Cloud. This gave Yami the opportunity to free the two, who instantly clutched to him in gratitude.

"Cait Sith, take them to safety. I'll handle Hojo." Cloud ordered.

Cait Sith nodded and started to bounce up and down in excitement. "Follow me everyone."

Mokuba and Serenity didn't even have the opportunity to think about what Cait Sith actually was before they were ushered out of the room, leaving Cloud and a screaming Hojo behind. Now all they needed to do was get out safely.

0o0o0

"What's that?" Tea suddenly asked in curiosity.

The three had nearly reached Rocket Town, and Tea had been looking at the area around her until she spotted something in the sky. From a distance it was a black and white blur, but more details came into view as whatever it was flew towards them.

Vincent was instantly alert. He didn't know what was coming towards them, but it didn't feel good. "Stay behind me." He ordered as he got our his gun.

Tea refused to step back and grabbed Vincent's arm holding the gun. "Hey! I didn't point it out so you could practice your skeet skills." She said offended.

Vincent shrugged her off, his gaze still at the growing dot in the sky. "This is no ordinary monster. Now step back!" He said more harshly.

Tea cringed at the tone and stepped back to join Tristan, who was also wondering what was going on. Vincent allowed a small moment to glance in the direction of the town, but judging from the speed of whatever it was out there they weren't going to make it. He began to become more concerned the closer the form came. He had first thought that it might have been one of the Dark Dragons residing in the Northern Cave, but the shape just didn't fit. As it came even closer it seemed to have only one wing. There was only one creature that Vincent knew that had only one wing, off and he instantly opened fire. The form easily dodged the bullets and soon it was near enough to reveal to be a silver-haired man with one black wing holding a white-haired man effortlessly under one arm.

"Sephiroth, but how..." Vincent trailed off as he tried to land another hit, only to have the bullets repelled by Sephiroth's Masamune.

"Long time no see chaos-bearer." Sephiroth smirked.

"Oh, and if it isn't miss friendship speech and motor mouse." The other new arrival smirked. "You will do perfectly to test our new theory."

Tea gasped. "Bakura."

"What are you doing here?" Tristan demanded to know.

Bakura shrugged. "What else? I'm after the Millennium Puzzle of course."

"Though I'd love to chat some more, I think it's time we act out our plan." Sephiroth intervened and tossed Bakura to the ground, who landed harshly."

"Hey!" He said after he got back up. "You could have just set me down you know!" Bakura huffed and turned back to his opponents, his smirk returning. "Now let's get back to business." Bakura took out a yellow Materia orb.

Vincent immediately recognized the threat. "Tea, Tristan run! Head to Rocket Town as quickly as you can."

Tea was still too shocked by Bakura's presence to move, but soon felt Tristan grab her hand and drag her along. They took off while Vincent turned his attention to Bakura. But before he could act his attention was once again drawn to Sephiroth, who swooped down on him. Vincent shot a couple of times, but his bullets either missed or were once again deflected. While Sephiroth took up all of his attention, Bakura was free to set off after the two feeling forms. He was soon gaining on them.

"Now, let's see if this'll work." He mumbled to himself.

He then activated the Materia in his hand and channelled his Shadow Magic through it. In a bright flash of dark light the attack went straight to its victims. Tea and Tristan screamed.

"No! Tea! Tristan!" A sudden new voice yelled.

Bakura turned to the left to see Joey running towards him, closely followed by Seto and Red XIII. "Well well, if it isn't the pesky Priest and his puppy. I'm so glad you could join us." Bakura remarked, then eyed the red wolf. "And I see you've adopted another puppy. How cute."

But his comments were ignored by Joey, who ran up to the place where his two friends had been moments before, but all that was left of them were two Duel Monster cards. "You bastard! What have you done to them?" Joey demanded to know.

"I simply made sure they wouldn't be getting in my way. And now you're next."

Bakura readied himself for another attack, but Red XIII jumped in between him and Joey, growling and ready for action. But before Red XIII could act Bakura unleashed his attack. The bright flash of dark light made impact and Red XIII howled. A moment later another Duel Monster card dropped fluttered into Bakura's hand. He then dropped to the ground, the two subsequent attacks having drained his energy.

"No! Red!" Joey yelled and wanted to lunge towards Bakura.

Suddenly Sephiroth swooped down next to Bakura, stopping Joey. "Well, I guess that's all for today, but rest assured. We'll be back."

And with those words he scooped up Bakura and took off, leaving a confused and concerned group of three people behind.

0o0o0

**A/N:** Oh my! This chapter eventually became longer than I thought it would be, and that was with skipping over some parts. But I amazed myself with my ability to bring some characters back together.

Sephy and Bakura made some plans, which they brought into action at the end. Now what kind of Materia + Shadow Magic would turn people into Duel Monster cards?

Cloud and co infiltrated and managed to get to Mokuba and Serenity. Will they be able to get out? And what about Tifa and Barret?

How was Seto suddenly able to summon his Blue-Eyes?

Why did nothing happen when Mokuba and Serenity were injected with Mako?

Who else will be turned into cards? Any idea yet? :D

By the way, if you come up with a nice combination of a FF7 character and Duel Monster card I'd love to hear them. I've already got an idea for Cloud, but not for any of the others yet. Feel free to contribute! You'll get my eternal gratitude, credit, and an entire batch of cyber cookies. :D

Until next week! :D Tomorrow I have to go to work again :(.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Welcome to chapter 6!

I've been looking into how many YGO FF7 crossovers there are on this site. I've discovered that there are only 14. No wonder this story isn't getting as much response as Torn between two loves XD. But to think that YGO is one of the most popular fandoms in anime, while FF7 is one of the most popular ones in games, it's kind of strange there are so few crossovers. I thought that was interesting.

Anyway, in this chapter Bakura and Sephiroth start recruiting, Cloud and Hojo have a heart to heart, Seto employs his excellent motivation skills, Tifa gets mood swings, and a new member joins team Vincent.

Happy reading! And reviews, ideas, suggestions, etc. are always appreciated!

0o0o0

Bakura had recovered some by the time he and Sephiroth had arrived safely at the North Crater, but he was still feeling slightly weak. But it couldn't ruin his mood though. Their theory had worked. By combining their magic they were able to eliminate their opponents one by one. Tea and Tristan had only been a test, and getting Red XIII out of the way was a nice added bonus. Now they could turn their attention to the ones that really mattered as soon as Bakura had regained his strength again.

Bakura smirked as he sat down on one of the rocks. "Well that was certainly satisfyingly fun."

"Don't let it go to your head. We merely caught them by surprise, so it won't be so easy next time." Sephiroth remarked.

Bakura's smirk vanished to be replaced by a scowl. "Great job of ruining my mood Sephy. Like I don't know that!"

But Sephiroth ignored Bakura's annoyance and turned back to the matter at hand. "You seemed to know those two people you changed into cards first. Are they from your world?"

Bakura nodded. "Yeah, they are two of the Pharaoh's pesky friends, but of little threat themselves." He then smirked. "Still, without his friends to support him the Pharaoh will be weak."

Sephiroth nodded in understanding. "It seems like our adversaries are very much alike. Both seem to rely on others for their strength."

Bakura nodded again and then took out the card of Red XIII that had fluttered into his hand. "So what about this thing? What is it anyway?" He asked as he tossed the card to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth caught the card and glanced at it. "A protector of this Planet and one of my adversary's stronger allies." He looked back up to Bakura. "He may be of some use to us." He tossed the card back.

"How exactly?" Bakura asked as he caught the card.

"If we can somehow temporary release him from the card, he might be able to give us valuable information." Sephiroth explained and smirked. "And perhaps we can even have him fight on our side."

Bakura looked back at the card as he thought about Sephiroth's words. Since Red XIII was now a Duel Monster card he would be bound by its rules. If Bakura would use him in a duel, the red wolf would have to obey his command. He glanced at the duel disk still strapped around his wrist. He knew it kept the answer. It was the perfect device to release and control him, but the problem was that the device was malfunctioning, and wouldn't summon anything.

Bakura faced Sephiroth again. "Would it be possible to use those coloured magic balls in combination with my duel disk?"

Sephiroth cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Bakura turned his attention back to his duel disk as he replied. "This device is supposed to display holographic images of the cards that are being placed on it, but it hasn't worked since I came to this world." He demonstrated his point by placing Red XIII's card on the duel disk, and like expected nothing happened. "But perhaps with the use of those coloured balls we can make it work. Just like I was able to transform him into a card with the help of that yellow one in the first place."

Sephiroth pondered over the idea. Indeed, the combination of Bakura's Shadow Magic and the Morph Materia had proven to be very successful, but would the same concept apply to the device? Sephiroth actually doubted it. And besides, what was so special about that device anyway? It was just a technological gadget meant to enhance the experience of a card game, right?

"Why would you need the device, if we might be able to release him using the same concept as that turned him in it, except use a different kind of Materia?" He asked.

Bakura snorted. "For one, it would drain my strength that I'd like to use to turn more of our opponents into cards. Secondly, if I can summon him with my duel disk he would be bound by its rules. If you want him to fight at our side, this would be the way to go."

Sephiroth considered the idea again, seeing some merit to it this time. It would be nice to be able to control the beast when he got out of the card. Even though Sephiroth had no doubts that he could handle him, it would be bothersome, and it would probably difficult to get him to talk in the first place. The energy and effort would simply not be worth it, but if they could somehow control him through the device it would make exploring that idea a whole lot more worthwhile.

0o0o0

Hojo was positively seething as he saw his two precious specimens get away. He now wished that annoying Turk hadn't been called away. He'd almost made a very interesting discovery while he had hardly even started, and it needed to be exploited.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done you annoying pest?" Hojo hissed at Cloud.

"I've prevented you from conducting your unethical experiments on innocent children." Cloud stated simply.

"You fool! You have no idea what those children are!" Hojo protested.

Cloud shrugged. "As a matter of fact, I do."

Hojo became intrigued. "Really now?"

"I know they are from a different world, but even if I didn't I could never condone you experimenting on children." Cloud's gaze then turned to anger, and he raised his Buster Sword threateningly. "Especially since I know exactly what your experiments entail."

Hojo moved his hands behind his back. "I can't believe you're still angry about _that_." He scoffed. "You got out alive and well, and much stronger to boot, so what are you complaining about?"

"It doesn't make up for the fact that you took five years out of my life without my consent, you monster." Cloud gripped his sword a bit tighter. "Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you again."

Hojo put on a mock thoughtful expression. "I can't really." He admitted with a shrug. "I could never explain the necessity of such research to a scientific nobody like you, but allow me to ask you one question instead. Why are they here?"

On instinct Cloud wanted to answer that question straight away, but stopped himself before he did, instead opting to answer Hojo's question with one of his own. "Why would that be important?"

"You see, now that's exactly why I'm the scientist, and you are nothing but a failed experiment." Hojo mocked, making Cloud tense up even more at the insult.

Hojo simply chuckled at the reaction, though was interrupted by the beeping of one of his machines. "Ah, great timing." He said as he walked up to the machine.

Cloud followed his movements, but allowed it nonetheless.

"So that's why they gave no reaction at all. Ah, this is most intriguing." The scientist mumbled to himself.

"What are you talking about?" Cloud grumbled.

Hojo turned back to Cloud. "Something someone as narrow-minded as you would never understand, but I shall elaborate nonetheless. You see, before you and your annoying friends decided to barge in here I had injected the two specimens with Mako."

"You did what?!" Cloud practically yelled.

"I rest my case. Narrow-minded." Hojo shook his head in exasperation. "Two people from another world suddenly show up on this one, and the blood sample taken from them after the injection shows no traces of any Mako." He paused then as he fully focussed his attention to Cloud. "The President simply wants me to find a way to their world, but I am more interested in finding out why they are here in the first place. Is it simply a leap of faith as they say, or is there a purpose behind it? And could that purpose be to raise our tolerance of Mako? In any case the appearance of these two opens up a whole new field of scientific research to explore."

"You are truly insane if you think these two came here to serve as a new field of scientific study." Cloud said, and couldn't stop himself from elaborating further with what he knew to get back at Hojo. "Those kids aren't the only ones who showed up here. It appears that your son isn't defeated yet." Cloud paused for a short while and glared. "Like father like son it appears." Hojo raised his eyebrow in interest at this piece of information, but didn't interrupt Cloud as he continued. "The Planet has reached out to another world for help. These kids are among those that were drawn here." Cloud smirked. "I'm surprised that such an observant man as you failed to notice that the man who came with me knew these children."

Hojo thought back on that moment. In the turmoil he hadn't noticed it right away, but now that he thought back on it he did indeed realize that this was indeed the case. "And this man is also from this other world?" He inquired. Cloud nodded, causing Hojo to smirk. "That's very interesting indeed. I guess you aren't as useless as I first thought."

Cloud mentally smacked himself. He hadn't been aware of just how much information he had unintentionally given to the scientist. But now he saw his error. Even though he'd tried to avoid it he had been lured into Hojo's trap. He had allowed the scientist to rile him up with insults and insane theories. Hojo was positively salivating at the idea that more people like these children were out there. Add to that the news that Sephiroth wasn't fully defeated yet, and Hojo looked like a kid on Christmas eve. Cloud took a deep breath to compose himself. It wouldn't matter in the end anyway. He planned to make sure Hojo wouldn't be alive when he left. And this time, he'd make sure of it.

"Too bad you won't be able to write your thesis in this lifetime." Cloud said calmly, readjusting his grip on the hilt of his sword. "Now it's high time I get rid of you once and for all."

0o0o0

Joey hadn't stood up since Sephiroth had grabbed the weakened Bakura and took him away. So many things were running through his head right now. The evil Bakura was here, and he was in league with some silver-haired, one-winged, dark figure. But what was on his mind first and foremost were the two cards he was holding in his hands. He'd finally found at least some of his other friends only to witness them being changed into cards. Duel Monster cards.

"What in the world happened?" He mumbled, staring at the cards in disbelief.

"He was using a Command Materia, and somehow managed to change them into cards." Vincent, who had walked up to him, said.

Joey snapped around to face the newcomer. "And who the hell are you?"

"My name is Vincent." He said calmly. "I found your friends in the north and was guiding them here to Rocket Town until we were attacked by Sephiroth and that other man. Bakura, was it?"

"I see." Joey mumbled and turned back to stare at the cards some more.

Seto was getting annoyed. "There we go again Wheeler." He grumbled and crossed his arms. "We come across one setback and it instantly has you on your knees, wallowing in sorrow like a whimpering puppy who's been denied a bone."Joey's cringe at the harshness of his words did not go unnoticed by the speaker. "That's it, stay on the ground like the cowering mutt you are."

"Shut up Kaiba!" Joey yelled, his eyes flaming with anger as he glared at Seto. "I'm not a dog!"

"Oh really?" Seto mocked, but also inwardly smirked, pleased he'd gotten Joey to react to him like that. "Let me ask you this. What do you think your sister would say if she saw you like this? When she would see you for the coward that you really are? How do you even expect to find your sister like this?"

"I said shut up!" Joey roared and stood up to swing a punch at Seto, who easily stopped it by catching Joey's fist. "Don't talk about Serenity like that you rich bastard!"

Seto smirked outwardly this time, making Joey blink in confusion. "Then prove you're a man by composing yourself and move on." He said, releasing his hold on Joey's fist and pushing him back.

Vincent watched the scene with a hint of amusement. Though it had been harsh, the taller teen's words had successfully managed to get the blonde one out of his misery. But his observation had also told him a lot about these people. It was clear that these people were from the same world as Tristan and Tea were, and that at least the blonde one was their friend. He was also looking for his sister Serenity. Most likely Red XIII had been guiding them here. Thinking about the red wolf instantly brought Vincent out of his amusement. He knew Red XIII, like Tea and Tristan had fallen victim to the recent attack. His two charges never stood a chance, and Red XIII had sacrificed himself to protect the blonde teen. The fact that they had been together when they arrived made Vincent deduce that they had probably appeared somewhere near Cosmo Canyon. This led him to the conclusion that any of their other friends had appeared near to his friends. This would make things a lot easier in terms of where to find them, and he already had several places in mind, Midgar being number one.

"You two had best follow me." Vincent spoke up from his musings.

Joey and Seto turned to him. "Remind me again why we should trust you." Seto said suspiciously.

"Like I said, I was guiding Tea and Tristan to Rocket Town before we got attacked. I'm assuming that Red XIII was guiding you. It seems like we've got a common goal to reverse whatever has been done to them and defeat the ones responsible. In any case we'd best get away from here in case they decide to come back and finish the job."

"Finally someone who talks some sense." Seto said approvingly.

Joey, who had regained his composure and determination, pocketed the two cards of his friends and looked up. "Red XIII was taking us to Rocket Town, so we could get to a place called Junon. He speculated that we might find Kaiba's brother and my sister there."

Vincent nodded. "Junon is on route to where I wanted to go, but let's head to Rocket Town first.

Joey and Seto nodded in agreement and followed Vincent. The remainder of the short distance was passed in silence. Joey kept his hand close to his pocket as if making sure the cards were still there. The action did not go unnoticed by Vincent, and it made him hate that fact that he'd failed to protect those two. But he also realized that he'd been taken by surprise. Even though that was something very hard to do against someone with keen senses like his, he knew that he wasn't to blame for not expecting Sephiroth to show up. The thought alone that Sephiroth was apparently still alive disturbed him. Considering the fact that he was working with that Bakura person, who apparently was from the same world as these strangers, also didn't bode well. He became increasingly convinced that this was no mere coincidence. Moreover, the fact that they had somehow figured out a way to combine their strength and turn their opponents into cards made them very dangerous. This had just become all the more serious, and they needed to make haste to Midgar after they had told Cid what'd happened. Together they should be able to defeat Sephiroth once again.

0o0o0

"That stupid Tseng #&%$." Barret grumbled while Tifa was wrapping a bandage around his arm. He then winced as Tifa pulled on the bandage rather tightly. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For your dirty mouth, and for complaining Barret. You know it's all your own fault for being careless." Tifa replied calmly while resuming her wrapping of Barret's arm.

Barret huffed, but didn't retort otherwise. It really was his own fault after all. After Cloud had called that they were in position Barret had stormed the building as if he was possessed. Tifa had sighed in exasperation before running after him. She'd admonished the big man to drag out the fight for as long as they could, and sincerely hoped he would do so. They were only causing a distraction after all.

As soon as he had gotten into the lobby he had yelled that he was going to kill the President and everyone in the building with him. He emphasized his point with a few shots of his gun. People screamed and dropped down on the floor or ran away. The guards had quickly responded to the threat. It had been futile since the beginning though, since they were no match for the duo. Barret had purposely missed most of the people though, and Tifa had merely fought to temporarily incapacitate the guards. None were really in danger of losing their lives.

Things had become interesting when the Turks arrived. If there had been one of them Barret and Tifa could have handled it, and possibly have dragged it out a bit more, but facing off against four of them, Tseng himself amongst them, forced them to retreat. Still, that hadn't prevented Barret from provoking the composed leader of the Turks. When Barret had finally retreated to get out Tseng had managed to hit Barret in his arm with his gun. Tifa felt Barret should consider himself lucky. Tseng wasn't one to have a bad aim. It was almost as if the composed man had known that the two weren't really out to kill the President and that this bullet was merely a compensation for the taunting Barret had done. A warning of sorts.

"There. All done." Tifa said as she gave the now covered wound a good whack for good measure, making Barret wince again and growl at her. "Don't be such a baby." She scolded him, but then turned serious as she turned back to the Shinra HQ. "Do you think they're all right?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

"They'll be fine Tifa. Cloud's with them after all." Barret reassured her, a grin forming on his face. "After all, that spiky-head of ours is too stubborn to die in there. And Spikey number two also didn't look like he was planning on failing or giving up."

Tifa couldn't help but smile. Barret was right. She should have more faith in them. Sure enough Cait Sith appeared out of the stairway an few minutes later, leading Yami and two children, who were both staying close to him. Her face fell when she didn't see Cloud with them, and she instantly got out of their hiding place and rushed over to them, Barret following behind.

"Cait Sith. Over here." She said not too loudly to attract attention.

Cait Sith waved and bounced over to her. "Good to see you two made it out safely." He said cheerfully.

Serenity and Mokuba couldn't help but step a little closer to Yami when they spotted Barret. The large man was intimidating. Barret noticed though, and shot them a friendly grin.

"Hello kiddos. Good to see your Spikey got you out okay." He greeted them good-naturedly. "The name's Barret, and if you ever need to give someone a good ass-whooping, you'll come and let me know all right?"

The words succeeded in reassuring the two a bit, and they both smiled. Mokuba was the first one brave enough to step away from Yami to introduce himself, and Serenity soon followed. Tifa in the meanwhile had her thoughts on something else. While Barret was dealing with Yami and the kids, she turned back to Caith Sith.

"Cait Sith, where's Cloud?" Tifa asked, a hint of concern clear in her voice.

"Oh, he stayed back to take care of Hojo, while we got out. He should be here soon."

Tifa let out a sigh of relief, though also remained a bit tense. She wouldn't be able to relax fully until she saw Cloud safe again.

"Hojo? I thought we'd killed him." Barret interjected, turning to the others two.

"Apparently not." Tifa mumbled.

Cait Sith stopped bouncing. "No, he survived that attack. He's still the head of the Science Department."

"First Sephiroth and now Hojo. Who else isn't dead that should be?" Barret grumbled.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Yami suddenly spoke up. "But I'd like to take Mokuba and Serenity somewhere safe."

"Right. Of course." Tifa replied and then turned to Barret. "Barret, could you take them back to the bar please. I'd like to wait for Cloud."

"All right Tifa, but if he isn't out in another half hour you'll let me know, and I'll come to personally drag his spiky-haired butt out of there."

Tifa gave a small smile. "Thanks Barret."

Barret gave her a nod before leading the small group back to Sector 7. Along the way Mokuba and Serenity became more comfortable around Barret. Yami was amazed by how well the man was with children. He could have never guessed it from his appearance. But Yami's mind soon turned to other things. Now that they'd gotten Mokuba and Serenity our safely they needed to figure out what to do next as soon as Cloud had returned. Hopefully, that would be soon.

0o0o0

"Shera!" Cid's voice boomed through the house. "We've got guests! Get some tea!"

A young woman walked into the room and smiled when she recognized one of their guests. "Vincent, it's nice to see you again." She greeted him. "Are these some new friends?" She gestured to Joey and Seto.

"Shera! Did I ask you to make idle chitchat? Go get that #$ % tea!" Cid gruffly interrupted.

Shera sighed and shook her head in exasperation. "All right." She said and walked to the kitchen.

"What's gotten you so riled up, man?" Joey said. "She was only being friendly."

"It's not her, it's you." Cid grumbled, taking a drag of his cigarette while flopping down into a chair. "I know for one that Vincent wouldn't just come over for a visit. Secondly, I know Vincent isn't the one to make many friends. So when he suddenly shows up on my doorstep with two complete strangers wearing strange devices on their wrists, I just know it's a recipe for trouble."

Seto suddenly walked up to the irritated man and slammed his hands on the surface of the table. "Listen here old man. I don't care about your tea. I've got a brother to find and according to this man you can help us out. So just give us what we need and we'll be on our way."

Cid looked at the tense teen with a hint of amusement, unfazed by his sudden outburst. "Your brother?" He asked, eying Vincent questioningly over Seto's shoulder.

"These two come from another world, but there are others here as well, both their siblings among them. We need to borrow the Highwind to find them. On top of that we were attacked by none other than Sephiroth right outside of this town." Vincent explained.

Cid cocked an eyebrow. "People from another world, although very weird, is something I can handle. But no way in hell I'm going to borrow the Highwind to you. If I decide to let you use it I'll be coming along with you. And maybe you should get your eyes checked Vincent. Sephiroth is dead."

"Well then he isn't anymore." Joey spoke up, his voice laced with anger as he grabbed the two cards of Tea and Tristan from his pocket to show them to the sceptical man. "I witnessed two of my friends being changed into cards by Bakura, who was helped by a silver-haired guy whom Vincent identified as Sephiroth. My sister is out there somewhere risking the same fate if I don't find her. So I don't care what your problem is, but just get us on that Highwind of yours so we can move out."

Cid looked at the cards in the blonde teen's hands, a bit dazed by it all. He was a rough man, who usually didn't take any crap from people, but was the one giving it to them. But these two young men were different. The way in which they spoke of their desperate need to find their siblings didn't fail to touch Cid deep inside. The fact that Vincent would never lie about anything, and certainly knew not to mock with the reappearance of Sephiroth, made everything all that more grave. He took the blunt of his cigarette out of his mouth and pressed in into the ashtray on the table.

"All right, I'll let you use the Highwind, but like I said before, I'll be coming with you." He said in a calm voice that sounded a bit strange. He then stood up and walked to the kitchen. "Shera, forget about that tea. I'm heading out."

Shera turned around and nodded gravely. "I'd figured something like that would happen. Please take care of yourself."

Cid shot her a small smirk. "You know me Shera. They won't take me down that easily."

Shera nodded with a small smile this time. "I know. Still, please be careful, all right?"

Cid gave a determined nod. "I will." He then walked back into the other room. "All right then. I've got the Highwind parked just outside of town. Follow me."

The three followed him out of the house and to the Highwind. Finally they would be able to get back to searching for the others again, while Vincent took this time to reflect on what had happened so far, analyzing all the details. He talked a little bit with Joey now that they had the opportunity. The teen was curious about how his friends had been before the attack, while Vincent was also curious as to what they'd experienced. He provided Vincent with some interesting information, especially with regards to their duel disks and the sudden appearance of Seto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Seto in turn had sat down in a quiet corner, trying his best to analyze his duel disk to figure out why it was malfunctioning. He didn't get really far without his laptop and other equipment though. But at the least it gave him something to do to put his mind off all the things he was still quite unwilling to accept. Before they knew it, they were nearing Junon.

0o0o0

**A/N:** I was surprised by how easy it was to write some of the scenes in this chapter. Some of them were over before I knew it. The Hojo-Cloud scene may seem a bit out of place (it felt like that to me anyway), but something mentioned in their conversation will become relevant later.

Will Bakura and Sephiroth find a way to summon Red XIII and turn him into their slave?

Will Cloud get out of the Shinra HQ?

Will Joey and Seto find their siblings?

Now that Mokuba and Serenity have been saved, what will Yami/Yugi do?

Will they find a way to get Tristan and Tea back?

Until next week! :D


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Welcome to chapter 7!

This story is already becoming longer than I expected it would be. I'll soon be able to speed up though, and then the ending will come in sight pretty soon. In the end I also feel I'm doing more with the story than originally thought, but that the intended humoristic component has become much less. I'm not complaining though. I still think it's fun to write.

In this chapter Sephiroth is nearly in stitches, Reno earns points for honesty, Joey and Seto fish for information, Cloud and co start making plans, and Cid has some good news.

Happy reading! And reviews, ideas, suggestions, etc. are always appreciated!

0o0o0

"Try this one." Sephiroth said as he tossed Bakura a green Materia orb.

"What is it?" Bakura asked.

Sephiroth crossed his arms as he explained. "It's called Exit, and has got two uses. With Escape it's easier to run away from battle. With Remove you can let your enemy flee. It's normally used in battle, but perhaps it'll work on that device of yours to remove characters from the cards."

Bakura nodded. He took the card of Red XIII from his pocket and placed it on his duel disk. Like expected, nothing happened. He then concentrated on the green orb in his hand like he had done with the Morph Materia before, channelling his Shadow Magic and synchronizing it with the Materia. He then directed the magic at the card. The card started to move before it suddenly flew off the duel disk and land on the rocky floor a few metres away. Nothing happened after that.

Bakura huffed. "Now that worked brilliantly." He said sarcastically.

Sephiroth stepped forward to pick up the card. "Perhaps you should use it on that toy instead of on the card. After all, you claimed you wanted to get him out through it." He said coldly while handing the card back.

Bakura didn't allow himself to show how humiliated he felt about that comment, and snatched the card from the tall man. Unknowingly that action had told Sephiroth all about Bakura's shame. He didn't comment on it though as Bakura placed the card back on his duel disk and activated the Materia again. Only this time he pressed the orb against his duel disk and allowed its magic to flow through the device. Bakura nearly got ecstatic when he felt the device respond, but was disappointed again when he heard the lock around his wrist snap open, causing it to fall on the ground.

If Sephiroth had been prone to laugh, he would have been bellowing with it now, but for all his mirth only a small smirk showed itself on his otherwise expressionless face. "So much for that idea."

Bakura was seething with frustration, which only made him more determined to make this work. "Well I'm not going to give up on the entire idea just because one of these balls don't work. We'll just have to try another one."

"It's not that simple." Sephiroth disagreed. "Every Materia is quite specific, and this one is the only one that I could think of that could possibly have worked."

Bakura crossed his arms in annoyance. "What about one of those other colours? I noticed you didn't even look at the red ones when going through them."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Red Materia is used to summon some of the most powerful creatures known to man, and very dangerous if not handled properly. I can't let you use it for something so trivial."

Sephiroth's condescension of Duel Monsters and everything connected to it made Bakura ground his teeth in anger. "I'll have you know that some of the most powerful monsters have been summoned by this device as well. Some were powerful enough to threaten the fate of the world."

Sephiroth eyed the duel disk, which was still lying on the ground where it had fallen. Was such a device really capable of summoning powerful creates? Somehow the tall man was still sceptical, but he also realized that this might actually be the answer. With Summon Materia the wielder could summon a powerful creature, so connecting it with a device that summoned creatures seems so logical and simple that it might just be worth a try. Making up his mind Sephiroth grabbed the weakest Summon Materia that he had, just to be on the safe side, and tossed it to Bakura, who caught it.

"Go try it out then, but be careful."

"Bakura smirked. "Your concern is heart warming."

Bakura picked up his duel disk and strapped it back on his wrist. He then proceeded by doing the same thing he had done before with the Exit Materia, and pressed it to his duel disk as he activated its magic. He felt the device respond, and was shocked to see that the Materia orb was being absorbed by the device. Then the Red XIII card started to glow, and the image of the red wolf appeared before them. Red XIII shook his head in confusion and looked around. When he spotted Sephiroth he instantly crouched down and growled. Sephiroth wasn't too concerned about the threat the red wolf posed, but kept his Masamune ready just in case. Without another word Red XIII tried to lunge at his enemy, but found that he couldn't move.

"Sephiroth, what have you done to me?" He growled demandingly.

Sephiroth, who noticed that his enemy couldn't move, allowed himself to relax somewhat. "You are in no position to start asking questions, protector of the Planet." He said calmly, though the tone caused shivers to run down Red XIII's spine. Sephiroth noticed this and smirked. "But if you must know, I didn't do anything." He continued and pointed at Bakura with his sword. "It was him who changed you into a card, and it's him who managed to summon you and now controls you."

Red XIII snapped his head around, one of the few movements he was allowed, to look at the one behind him. He noticed that he was the one he had witnessed chasing after those two people and use some sort of magic on them. After that everything had happened so quickly that he hadn't had the time to have a good look at him. But now that he did he noticed that he was wearing a similar device on his wrist as Joey and Seto, making him reach the conclusion that he was from the same world as they were.

"To what end?" Red XIII demanded to know from the white-haired man.

"What else but to eliminate all opposition ?" Bakura said and shrugged. "But enough of this chitchat. Let's get down to business and see how far my control over you goes."

Sephiroth nodded approvingly, while Red XIII couldn't help but be scared of what was to come.

0o0o0

Cloud took one last look at the body on the floor, as if making sure it was really dead. He'd been standing there for a while, almost afraid that if he left Hojo would magically stand up again.

"So the boss was right then."

Cloud snapped around at the sound of the voice, raising his sword at the smirking red-head leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Put that oversized butter knife away Cloud. I'm not here to fight you." Reno said with a wave of his hand.

Cloud frowned and did not comply. "How do you expect me to believe you?" He said sceptically.

"Oh come on now Cloud." Reno said with an exaggerated sigh while shaking his head. "When have I ever lied to you?"

Cloud realized that Reno hadn't actually ever lied to him, and it certainly wasn't his style to lure Cloud into a false sense of security to gain the upper hand. Still, he was a Turk, and Cloud was still in the heart of the Shinra HQ. There was no way he was going to let his guard down.

"If you haven't come here to fight me, then why are you here?" Cloud questioned.

"Soon after Tseng arrived in the lobby where that big friend of your was going trigger happy and that girlfriend of your was kicking ass, he realized that they weren't really trying to get through. He started to suspect that your friends were merely a diversion, and that you were probably sneaking in to get those kids out. He sent me back up to confirm, and now I have." Reno admitted, not attempting to hide the truth in any way.

This made Cloud all the more suspicious of his motives. "I sneak into the Shinra HQ, take those kids away, kill Hojo, and you're not going to fight me?"

"Nah." Reno shook his head as he shot Cloud a toothy grin.

"Why not?"

Reno shrugged. "First of all, I wouldn't stand a chance against you on my own. Secondly, we weren't very fond of Hojo anyway, not even the President. And finally, 'cause we're lazy. Why go through all the trouble to fight you and get those kids back, when you are most likely going to our work for us?"

Cloud gripped his sword a bit tighter. Reno was being as plain as day and mysterious at the same time. He still wasn't sure he understood the Turk's motives.

"What do you mean we're going to do your work for you?"

Reno shook his head and chuckled. "We're really not that stupid Cloud. We soon figured out that there were probably more people of their world somewhere. And right at this moment two members of AVALANCHE decide to pay us a visit. That couldn't be a coincidence, and my best guess is that at least one other person landed on your doorstep. Now that you've got the kids, you're probably going to find any others and help them find a way back home. We want to get there too, so why not let you do all the hard work for us?"

Cloud wanted to open his mouth and ask the next question, but Reno help up his hand to stop him. "Look, before you ask why I'm telling you all this is not because I'm here to help you. We aren't foolish enough to think you wouldn't have figured that out eventually. And even if you personally wouldn't have, then one of your friends probably would've, so why keep up appearances?"

Cloud regarded the man, seeing no hint of deception whatsoever. Cloud knew that Reno, as a Turk, was trained to school his emotions and facial expressions. But with what the man had told him Cloud had no reason to believe that Reno was lying. It all made perfect sense, and it hadn't been the first time the Turks had let Cloud and his friends do the dirty work for them. It still baffled him that Reno was so open about it, but he guessed Reno was right about how they would have figured it out that everything had gone too easily eventually. This way Reno was essentially telling him that they were not delusional in their assumptions. They knew perfectly well what was going on and what was going to happen. This knowledge only made them all the more dangerous, and Reno was letting him know this way. All Cloud could do would be to find a way to use this knowledge.

Cloud finally sheathed his sword on his back and crossed his arms. "Then you don't mind I'll be going now." He stated.

"By all means." Reno said with a wave of his arm as he stepped back from the doorway. "And I would like to advise you to take elevator number one. The view of Midgar is so nice from that one." He said pointedly.

Cloud caught on that Reno was saying and nodded before stepping past the Turk and out of the room. As soon as Cloud was out of earshot Reno flipped open his PHS and dialled.

"Was I right?" Tseng's voice said on the other end of the line.

"Naturally boss. Cloud's on his way out now. I told him to take elevator number one." Reno reported.

"Good. I'll handle things from here. Good job Reno." Tseng sounded pleased.

"Just one more thing boss." Reno said before hanging up. "We have some cleaning up to do here."

"Take care of it and then report to the President's office."

"Got it."

Reno hung up and walked to the centre of the room. He sighed as he committed himself to a less pleasant aspect of his job; getting rid of dead bodies.

0o0o0

The Highwind was nearing Junon, and it got its occupants excited for what was to come. Specifically for Joey and Seto, who hoped to find their siblings there. Joey got more fidgety and impatient the closer they got, unable to sit still for even a moment. Seto on the other hand showed no outward signs of his own anxiety, but continued to occupy himself with his duel disk. At the moment he had just put it back together and tried out using his cards again, but like before nothing happened.

"Still not working?" Vincent inquired from his leaned back position against the opposite wall.

Seto glared at the offending piece of equipment. "Everything looks fine. There's no damage to any of the technical components for as far as I can see. The only other possible solution would be that the energy released during my duel with Yugi has caused a glitch in the duel disk's software, but without my laptop I can't give it a full readout."

"That makes no sense Kaiba." Joey intervened.

"Since when did you become a technical whiz kid Wheeler?" Seto grumbled in annoyance.

Joey huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm not, but if your duel disk was malfunctioning because of that overload, then why would mine be malfunctioning as well?"

Seto didn't respond, simply having no answer to the rightfully pointed out issue with his theory. Vincent was thoughtful for a moment, processing all the information in an attempt to find some clue as to why it wasn't working.

"You said that one of his cards suddenly worked when it feel into the Mako Spring, right?" Vincent asked Joey.

Joey nodded. "Yeah, and the Kaiba's dragon defeated the other one. He didn't even use his duel disk."

"Hm…" Vincent mused. "It seems that those cards of yours respond to the energy of the Lifestream."

"The Planet's life source?" Joey questioned with a confused expression. "How is that connected to the Mako Spring?"

"I see Red XIII told you about the Lifestream, but not about Mako. Though the Lifestream itself is mostly a source made out of energy that flows underneath the surface of the Planet, there are places where it comes to the surface in liquid form. We call that Mako, and it seems to have some sort of effect on your cards."

"So are you suggesting that we should use this Mako of yours to use our cards?" Seto said sceptically. "I don't buy that nonsense. The duel disk is technology at its finest and doesn't need some magic liquid to work. I stand by my theory that there's something wrong with the software."

Vincent shrugged. "Believe what you will, but you can't deny the facts presented here."

"Hate to interrupt you boys, but you'd better grab a hold of something. I'm going to land." Cid announced, silencing the other three.

Joey and Seto's thoughts instantly turned to their siblings again, and the matter over the malfunctioning duel disks was forgotten for the moment. The subject was left alone as three of them got off the airship and walked the short distance to the little village next to the huge fortress. Cid remained behind, unwilling to leave his airship unmanned and unguarded. People looked up when the small group entered the village, curious as to why they were here. Joey and Seto wasted no time in asking around. They didn't have to look far though, as nearly everybody knew what had transpired earlier.

"Oh, I know what you're talking about." An young girl nodded excitedly to Joey. "Yes two children suddenly popped up out of thin air. Shinra was right on their case."

"Who's Shinra, where can I find this person?" Joey asked with a hint of relief, but also desperation in his voice.

The girl regarded him as if he'd grown two heads. Everybody knew what Shinra was, so why didn't he? She then bellowed with laughter. "Oh that's a good one. I actually believed you didn't know there for a while."

Joey scowled. "I'm not kidding young lady. I'm looking for my sister and it seems you have seen her. Now tell me where I can find her."

Vincent, who'd overheard part of their conversation, walked up to them. "You said Shinra took them?" He inquired.

The girl abruptly stopped laughing as she regarded the newcomer. "Yeah, they even called the Turks to come and see. I believe they took them to Midgar."

"Thank you."

Vincent motioned for Joey to come along. Seto soon joined them, telling the same story. Vincent knew they had to hurry if Shinra was involved. Luckily he'd planned on going to Midgar anyway, so they quickly returned to the Highwind.

0o0o0

Tifa was relieved when she finally saw Cloud come out of the Shinra building, apparently unharmed. What surprised and confused her though, was that he came out of the front entrance. He made it seem as if it was just another employee or visitor heading home.

"Cloud!" She called as she rushed over to him.

Cloud paused to look up at the approaching girl. "You all right Tifa? Where are the others?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled and nodded. "Barret was shot in the arm by Tseng though, but he'll be all right. I sent him and the others back to the bar while I stayed behind to wait for you."

Cloud nodded in approval. "Good. We'd better get going too." He said and started walking again.

"Cloud." Tifa started as she walked next to him. "How come you were able to walk out of there just like that? Didn't they try to stop you?"

Cloud sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I ran into Reno as I was about to get out." Tifa's eyes grew in surprise, but Cloud continued before she could question him. "He didn't fight me though, he even allowed me to leave peacefully."

"Why would a Turk do that? Sure, he's no match for you alone, but he could've easily called for backup." She wondered.

Cloud ground his teeth in frustration. "They don't care that we got those kids out. Apparently Rufus wants to find this world they're coming from, but plans to let us do the work since we're trying to get them home as well."

Tifa fell silent after that, needing some time to ponder over his words. "I guess that makes sense." She said eventually. She then shook her head. "But it's not something we can do anything about really, except keep an eye out for them. At least we know now."

Cloud nodded, but didn't respond. They could only hope that Reno had been overconfident when he so readily revealed Shinra's intentions. But what worried him the most was that he now had another thing to watch out for. He had to find Yugi's other friends, find a way to get them back home, probably fight Sephiroth somewhere along the way, and now he also he to keep an eye out for the Turks that would undoubtedly follow them around.

After a while they reached 7th Heaven, where the group of refugees had gathered. Mokuba and Serenity were seated at one of the tables with steaming mugs of tea, talking to Yugi as he explained them what was going on. Upon arrival everyone turned their heads to them. Barret grinned when he saw that Cloud was all right.

"See? I told you he would be all right Tifa."

Tifa smiled at the big man and nodded. "Yeah you were right Barret." She confirmed, but left it at that.

Suddenly Serenity stood up and walked up to Cloud and bowed slightly. "Thank you for saving us mister Cloud. I'm really grateful."

Cloud smiled a little and knelt down to meet the girl at eyelevel. "That's okay Serenity. And please just call me Cloud."

Serenity looked back up and smiled, moving to give the spiky-haired blonde a gentle hug, which Cloud returned.

"Could you also help us find our brothers?" Mokuba, who had also stood up and joined them, asked.

Cloud let go of Serenity to face the dark-haired boy. "That's what I intend to do."

Mokuba's face brightened and also hugged Cloud in gratitude. "Thank you so much."

"But first things first." Cloud said as he let go of Mokuba and got back up. "We need to discuss where to start looking first and how to get there."

"Well we know a couple of things that could help us out." Cait Sith started from his position in the corner of the room. "We know that Yugi appeared here in Midgar, and that Mokuba and Serenity appeared in Junon, which means that your other friends might be spread over different locations across the Planet."

Barret groaned. "Great, that makes searching all the more easy."

"Well maybe there is some sort of pattern." Yugi suggested. "If there is then maybe we can narrow down our options."

"We could also try to get into contact with our friends. Maybe they can help us out." Tifa suggested. "It might be wise to call Cid anyway, since he can help us get around much quicker."

Cloud nodded in approval. "That's a good idea Tifa. I think we should do that first and go from there."

Everybody nodded and walked off to start calling their other friends. Yugi watched them with something close to fascination.

"What are you staring at?" Cloud suddenly said, snapping Yugi out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about how well you seem to work together." Yugi replied sheepishly.

Cloud sighed and joined the three foreigners at the table. "We've been working and fighting together for so long that we've learned to think on our feet."

Yugi smiled and nodded. "That's a good thing. I'm sure we'll be able to find the others and a way home in no time this way." He said optimistically, to which Cloud nodded absently, staring at the far wall. Yugi frowned. "Is there something wrong?"

Cloud turned his head to look at him and sighed again. "It's just that I'm worried about Sephiroth. If it's true that he's back we'll have a tough battle on our hands. On top of that I ran into someone before I got out of the building. I don't like what he told me."

Cloud then continued to tell Yugi about his encounter with Reno. Serenity and Mokuba paled a bit when they learned that Cloud was talking about Reno, which led them to explain how they knew the Turk. The more they spoke, the more the gravity of the entire situation became more real. But all they could do right now is tackle the situation step by step, and hope that they would come out victorious in the end.

0o0o0

A puff of smoke was blown out of Cid's mouth before it slowly dissolved into the air. To anyone who didn't know him his stance seemed leisurely while he waited for his three companions to return, but this was far from the truth. Cid was constantly on guard, knowing that Sephiroth was out there somewhere and could suddenly attack. He growled slightly at the thought. After fulfilling his dream of going to space and after their confrontation with the silver-haired warrior Cid had hoped to settle down peacefully with Shera. He had not expected to have to save the world once again.

Cid was about to take another drag of his cigarette when his PHS rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the display, which flashed Tifa's name. He frowned. That was quite the coincidence. Tifa hadn't called him in a while, so the fact that she did now made him slightly suspicious. In any case, he pressed the green button and put the device to his ear.

"Please tell me this is just a social call Tifa." Cid grumbled.

"Well hello to you too Cid." Tifa replied, sounding taken aback. "What's gotten you so moody?"

"Only the &%#% fact that Vincent was suddenly on my doorstep with two complete strangers, telling me that Sephiroth has returned and attacked him."

Tifa gasped in shock. "So he's already back?"

Cid cocked his head in wonderment. "Already? So you know something about this?"

"Yes, unfortunately I do." Tifa sighed demurely before steeling herself. "But I think it's best if we explain later. As you may understand, we need your help. Can you come to Midgar with the Highwind?"

"Already way ahead of you." Cid grinned and flicked away the blunt of his cigarette. "I'm at Junon right now with Vincent and those two strangers. We stopped here because they thought there might be some people here that they know, but we're coming to Midgar as soon as they return."

"Junon? Tell me Cid, are these two strangers looking for their siblings?"

Cid frowned in confusion. "Yeah, how do you know?"

"Because their siblings are right here." Tifa explained. "The Turks found them at Junon and took them here. Reeve didn't feel too good about it and sent Cait Sith to get us. We only got them out of Shinra's clutches just now."

Cid grunted in approval, and then spotted Vincent, Joey and Seto return. "They're coming back right now Tifa, so I've got to go. I'll be sure to tell them their siblings are all right, and then we're headed straight your way. We'll be there in a bit."

"All right, I'll let the others know you are coming. Thanks Cid, and see you soon."

"Right." Cid said before he ended the call.

By that time Vincent and the others had joined him. By the look on mainly Joey's face they had managed to get some sort of information. The blonde seemed eager to get going, and not even Seto could completely hide his impatience.

"I just got an interesting phone call from Tifa Vincent." Cid said seriously. "Apparently we aren't the only ones who know Sephiroth is back."

Vincent looked surprised, but also slightly concerned. "Did Sephiroth attack them as well?"

"She didn't say. She wanted to wait until we're in Midgar." He then looked at Joey and Seto. "She also wanted you to know that your siblings are safe with her."

Joey instantly felt relieved, and much of his earlier tension fell from his shoulders. Seto was also relieved to hear that his brother was safe, but wasn't ready to let go of his earlier anxiety until he actually saw Mokuba again. To see it to believe.

"Well let's get to this Midgar place then!" Joey said enthusiastically while he got on the airship.

"The mutt is right. Let's hurry." Seto said as he followed Joey.

Vincent and Cid shared a look. There was no need for words between them to know that they were both concerned about the fact that Tifa already knew of Sephiroth's return. Yet all they could do was hope that they had found out some other way, and that their other friends were all right. They both nodded at the same time and boarded the Highwind, ready to set off to Midgar.

0o0o0

**A/N:** Wow, there's so much talking in here that I'm amazed by myself. And much of it just came quite naturally. Still, the downside is that the pace slows down a bit. Luckily that's partly resolved by the fact that characters have already gotten together, so they have two scenes. I might change this set-up in the next chapter though, since all of the good guys are all in one location then. I'll just have to see what works out for me. I actually also quite enjoy using this format that I have with each chapter having 5 scenes with a certain main character.

When will Bakura and Sephiroth strike again?

How will the good guys fight the bad guys?

Who will be turned into cards and who will remain standing to fight?

Until next week! :D


End file.
